Gediminas Kalnutis
Level 4 Apprenticeship
Applied AI and Automation Practitioner
Build AI-supported workflows and automations for the job you already do
Learn with 1:1 feedback from dozens of experts with experience at:
The companies and institutions mentioned have no institutional affiliation or official partnership with Boom Training.
Apprenticeship standardAI Automation Level 4
Duration18 months
StudyFully online, in working hours
Maximum funding band£18,000
Help your organisation decide how AI gets used
Boom Training's Applied AI and Automation Practitioner apprenticeship puts that in your hands. You'll build working automations with the same tools your colleagues are reaching for, and write the policy that decides how everyone else uses them.
- 65%
- of UK GenAI users report a lack of convincing leadership on how it should be used in their organisation
- 31%
- of UK GenAI users say they use it without their employer’s knowledge
Source: Deloitte GenAI Workforce Survey 2026. Ipsos UK surveyed 25,000 UK workers aged 18–70 online, 7 May to 10 June 2026. Percentages describe self-reported experiences of GenAI users, not Boom Training outcomes.
You might be the person approving AI tools, or the person building with them. Either way, you'll be running automations on your own work well before the 18 months are up.
What you'll be able to do after the apprenticeship
Spot what's worth automating
If your week is full of manual updates and repetitive admin, the first thing you learn is which parts are worth automating. You'll audit your own working week and pick the one task worth solving.
Build and test AI-supported workflows
You'll build working automations in n8n or Power Automate and connect them to live data. Then you'll deal with the inputs that break them, which is most of what separates an automation that runs from one you can leave running.
Judge what AI gives you
You'll learn where AI outputs can be incomplete, inaccurate or unsupported. You'll practise checking the results and deciding which steps need human review or approval.
Write your organisation's AI policy
You'll write an AI policy for your own organisation and work out what UK regulation requires in practice.
What is the Applied AI and Automation Practitioner apprenticeship?
Applied AI and Automation Practitioner is a Level 4 apprenticeship for professionals who want to apply AI and automation to real work in their organisation. You’ll learn to identify worthwhile tasks, build and test AI-supported workflows with tools such as n8n and Power Automate, and assess where human oversight is needed. The programme runs alongside your role over 18 months. No previous coding experience is required. Eligible employers fund the apprenticeship through the UK apprenticeship levy or government co-investment.
AI automation vs traditional automation
NEW EMAIL
“I've been charged twice this month.”
Traditional automation
Looks for the word ‘invoice’ in the subject line
No match
The email waits to be read
AI-supported automation
Reads what the sender is actually asking for
Possible billing problem
Sent to billing, or to a person if uncertain
Let's say you build an automation that sends every email with invoice in the subject line to billing. Someone writes I've been charged twice this month. The message may indicate a billing issue, but a traditional automation looking only for invoice may not recognise it, so the email stays in the inbox unread.
An AI-supported automation can interpret the message and suggest what the sender is asking for. It may recognise this as a possible billing problem even though nobody used the word invoice, and route the email to billing. If the result is uncertain, the workflow can send it to a person for review.
Traditional automation, sometimes called rule-based automation, follows rules you set in advance. AI automation can interpret an input and suggest or take the next action, depending on how you set it up.
When a traditional automation receives an unexpected input, it may stop with an error or continue with an incorrect result. AI automation can handle a wider range of inputs, but it can also make mistakes. Both need testing and checks.
A workflow can combine both approaches. On this apprenticeship, you'll learn which steps can follow fixed rules, where AI can interpret information and take action, and where a person should review the result.
Is this the right programme for you?
The Applied AI and Automation Practitioner apprenticeship is for you if your organisation is exploring AI or already using it, and you either help decide where it could support the organisation or want to apply it to your own work. You'll learn alongside people ranging from hands-on practitioners to senior leaders, working across different sectors and types of organisation.
DIRECTING AI
AUTOMATING WITH AI
- Approving the tools
- Setting the policy
- Designing the workflow
- Building and running it
The apprenticeship covers all of it
People join from different points on this line. Some are deciding how AI should be used, while others are designing workflows or automating tasks in their roles. The apprenticeship helps you develop a broader understanding of how AI is directed, designed and applied at work. You'll learn alongside professionals from operations, finance, customer service, HR, IT, marketing and project delivery.
You're already building with AI and want a method behind it
You're already building with AI and want a method behind it
You use AI in your work, but the results are not always consistent. You may have tried different prompts, tools or workflows and still find it difficult to tell what works, why it works or how to explain the process to a colleague.
The programme gives you a clear method for identifying worthwhile tasks, designing workflows, testing the results and improving them over time.
You make decisions about AI and need to understand it properly
You make decisions about AI and need to understand it properly
To approve an AI tool or sign off a process built with one, you need to know what it does with your data, where it can go wrong and what checks it needs.
During the programme, you'll work through an AI-supported process yourself. You'll see how the workflow is designed, test its outputs and identify the points where human review is needed. That experience will help you ask better questions and assess whether a tool is suitable for your organisation.
This isn't a route into an AI engineering job, and it isn't a machine learning qualification. It won't train you to sell automations freelance, and it's a long way past a general AI awareness session. If what you want is a short introduction to prompting, 18 months of assessed work on your own organisation will be more than you're looking for.
What you'll build
Throughout the programme, you'll work on projects connected to your role and organisation. A Technical Mentor reviews each project with you on a live call before you begin the next project.
An AI adoption plan for your organisation
You'll choose an AI tool and examine how it could be used in your organisation. You'll consider who it affects, what it requires, where it could create risk and what guidance or approval it needs. A finance lead might assess how Copilot could support reporting and document work across a 200-person firm. A charity operations manager might examine whether AI could help staff organise incoming case information or prepare internal summaries, with sensitive data protected and a person checking the result.
A working automation for one task in your week
You'll create a multi-step automation connected to relevant data, with branching and a clear point for human review. The use case depends on your role. You might route inbound enquiries, pull supplier data into a weekly report or create a workflow that classifies messages and routes them to the right person.
A week of your own work, audited and automated
You'll record how you spend your time, identify a task that takes significant effort, assess whether it is worth changing and propose an improvement. You may create a workflow that prepares a rota automatically, ready for review. You may also discover that a process is better left as it is.
You'll learn n8n or Power Automate, and we'll help you choose
Learn the one your employer already runs on. You enrol on the track built around the tools your organisation actually uses, so Microsoft 365 organisations take Power Automate and everyone else takes n8n. You choose at enrolment, and if you aren't certain which tools your organisation runs on, we'll confirm it with you before you start. The qualification and the projects are the same on both.
- Which one should you choose?
- If most of your work happens in Outlook, Teams and SharePoint, Power Automate is likely to fit your organisation's setup. If you need to connect tools from different suppliers, n8n may be the better option. If you are unsure, ask whoever manages your organisation's systems or licences, then bring that information to your consultation call. We'll help you confirm the right route before you start.
Tools you'll work with
Every project is reviewed on a live call
At the end of each sprint, you present your project to a Technical Mentor and talk through your approach. They ask questions, test your assumptions and help you identify gaps or risks in the work. You leave the session with clear next steps for improving the project.
The mentors who review your work
Your projects are reviewed by Technical Mentors with experience in the topics they support. They work across organisations such as the BBC, Google and Nasdaq, and bring experience of real workplace projects to the programme. That experience helps you connect what you are learning with the decisions, risks and working processes you face in your organisation.
Kristina Grigaitytė
Irina Maria Ionescu
Paulina Katkauskaitė
How does the programme work?
You study online alongside your role, around six hours a week. Each module is divided into sprints, with shorter sections and a project to complete at the end of each sprint.
You set the timetable
There's no classroom and no fixed weekly schedule. You plan your study time around your role, with the required training completed during working hours as part of your off-the-job training.
Live sessions you can join
Mentor-led sessions run throughout the week. You're expected to attend at least one live session each week. You can ask questions, work through a problem or listen to the discussion.
Reviews at the end of every sprint
At the end of each sprint, you discuss your project and the work connected to your organisation with a Technical Mentor. They ask questions, help you identify gaps or risks and give you clear next steps.
Support throughout the programme
Your Learner Success Coach supports you from the first fortnight through to completion. They check in with you, help you stay connected and support you if you need help with the programme.
Programme outline
Three modules and ten sprints, each sprint ending in a project you build and then talk through with a Technical Mentor.
Module 1. AI Literacy
Module 1. AI Literacy
You cover how the models actually work, and how to prompt them so you get the same quality twice. You learn to spot AI-written text, to keep company data out of tools that shouldn't have it, and to see where the ethical risks sit. The last part is governance: what UK regulation asks of you, and how to write a policy that meets it.
Module 2. No Code AI Applications
Module 2. No Code AI Applications
This is the module where you build. Your automations sort and route what comes into the organisation and connect to systems you already use, and you put together a working web app with a database behind it without writing code. Alongside that you learn how to tell whether an automation is earning its place, and how to pick a problem worth solving before you start.
Module 3. Low Code AI Applications
Module 3. Low Code AI Applications
This module is the technical one. Python comes first, then the limits of AI-written code and how to review it properly. After that you direct a coding agent to build a small application, and set a second agent to test it against the kind of input that breaks things.
What qualification do you get?
The qualification you get is a Level 4 Artificial Intelligence and Automation Practitioner apprenticeship. It's recognised nationally, and someone independent of Boom Training decides whether you've earned it.
- What you're judged on
- Your assessment is based on work you complete in your organisation during the apprenticeship. You document the work and discuss your decisions, process and outcomes with an independent assessor. Projects, reviews and other evidence gathered during the programme support this assessment.
- Pass or distinction
- You pass by handling complex, non-routine problems with sound judgement. You get a distinction by doing it independently, and by showing you understand what your decisions mean beyond the immediate task.
- If you need another attempt
- You can take it again, with your employer's agreement and time to prepare. Doing so doesn't cap what you can achieve, so a distinction is still open to you.
- When assessment takes place
- Assessment takes place during the 18-month programme, when you and your employer agree that you are ready.
Who pays for it
Your employer funds the apprenticeship, and the learner does not pay tuition fees if they meet the eligibility requirements. The funding route depends on whether your employer pays the apprenticeship levy, has enough funds available and qualifies for government co-investment.
Levy-paying employer
Non-levy employer
Usually applies to
Larger employers with an apprenticeship service account
Small and medium-sized employers
Learner cost
£0
£0
Employer contribution
£0 extra when available levy funds cover the agreed price. Co-investment may apply if funds run out.
5% for eligible apprentices aged 25+; £0 for eligible 16–24-year-olds.
Maximum funding band
£18,000
£18,000
Another funding route
The employer may transfer levy funds to another organisation.
The employer may receive transferred levy funds from another organisation.
- What you pay for personally
- You do not pay for the apprenticeship or the learning materials included in the programme. The tools you use are provided by Boom Training or covered by your employer's existing licences, depending on the route you take.
- Why the timing matters
- Levy funds expire if they aren't used, which is often the most persuasive thing you can put in front of your manager.
From Turing College learners
“AI wasn’t part of my job description. Now it’s part of how I get things done.”
Southampton City Council
“I received 1on1 feedback from professionals - they adapted to my skill level and always gave new advice.”
Research Assistant @ King’s Business School
“Deadlines, workshops, mentors - everything conveniently packaged and made as easy as possible to absorb. I am sooo continuing this journey!”
Co-founder @ Zenoo
How to apply
Groups start on fixed dates. We’ll confirm the next available start date during your consultation. The application is short, and we’ll help you and your employer complete the steps before you enrol.
- 1
Book a free, non-binding consultation
Get all the information about the programme and funding. - 2
Speak to your manager
We'll help you bring this opportunity up to your manager. - 3
Complete your application
Tell us about your role and what you want to get out of it. We'll help ensure the programme is right for you.
Basic admissions requirements
Employed in England, 30 hours a week or more
Employed in England, 30 hours a week or more
You need to be in work, on a contract of 30 hours a week or more, with an employer based in England. The size of the organisation makes no difference to whether you're eligible, only to how the funding works.
Six focused hours a week
Six focused hours a week
Off-the-job training works out at around six hours a week across the 18 months. Focused hours are: Time inside your working day, agreed with your manager. Uninterrupted, at a computer, on the programme rather than your inbox. Spent on work that counts towards the qualification, including the projects you build for your own organisation.
A role that works with data
A role that works with data
Your day-to-day work has to involve handling information of some kind, because the projects are built on your own workload. Reports, records, enquiries, applications and spreadsheets all count. No particular job title is required.
16 or over
16 or over
There's a lower age limit of 16 and no upper one. Depending on your age when you start and the qualifications you already hold, you may also need to meet the English and maths requirement before you complete.
No coding background
No coding background
No previous coding experience is required. You'll need to be comfortable using a computer for work and to read and write English well enough to follow the material and talk through your projects.
What your manager will ask, and what to tell them
- What will it cost us?
- Available levy funds can cover eligible training and assessment up to the funding band maximum. Otherwise, government funding or employer co-investment may apply. We will confirm the contribution for your organisation before you enrol.
- Who covers your work?
- Around six hours a week are protected for apprenticeship learning, project work, mentoring and assessment. The work is directly connected to my role, so I can apply what I learn to the processes I already handle.
- What do we get?
- I'll apply the learning to a real workplace project, such as assessing an AI opportunity, improving a repetitive process or developing an automation for a suitable task. The organisation gains someone who can identify worthwhile uses for AI, test whether they work and help colleagues adopt them responsibly.
Book a free consultation
Talk through your role, your employer’s funding options and the next available start date.
- 1
Book a free, non-binding consultation
Get all the information about the programme and funding. - 2
Speak to your manager
We’ll help you bring this opportunity up to your manager. - 3
Complete your application
Tell us about your role and career goals. We’ll help ensure the programme is right for you.
FAQ
I'm senior. Is a Level 4 the right level for me?
I'm senior. Is a Level 4 the right level for me?
Yes, if the work covered matches what you want to do in your role. The Level 4 label describes the complexity of the knowledge and work involved, not your job title or management seniority. You do not need to manage people to study at Level 4. The programme is suitable for professionals who want to direct how their organisation uses AI, apply AI to their own work or help teams adopt new workflows.
Do I need to know how to code?
Do I need to know how to code?
No previous coding experience is required. You'll begin with AI literacy, prompting and no-code applications before moving into low-code work with Python, notebooks and AI coding assistants. You'll learn how to check, test and improve AI-generated output rather than rely on it without review.
What can I automate in my role?
What can I automate in my role?
The right project depends on your role and organisation. Examples include routing incoming messages, classifying emails, saving attachments to the right folder, bringing external data into a report or drafting replies for a person to review. You'll first assess whether the task is worth automating and whether AI is suitable for it.
Is this too basic if I already use AI every day?
Is this too basic if I already use AI every day?
Using AI tools in your role is a starting point. This programme takes you further by helping you identify worthwhile tasks, design and test workflows, check outputs, manage risks and support adoption across your organisation. If you already design and maintain automated workflows, connect systems, test AI outputs and support AI adoption in your organisation, discuss your experience with us before applying.
How is an apprenticeship different from a workshop or an online course?
How is an apprenticeship different from a workshop or an online course?
Length, review and evidence. Every project is reviewed on a live one-to-one call before you progress, the work is built on your own job, and you finish with a nationally recognised Level 4 qualification.
Who will I learn alongside?
Who will I learn alongside?
The group includes professionals with different roles, levels of experience and responsibilities, from hands-on practitioners to senior leaders. Everyone works on projects connected to their own organisation, so the problems may differ while the assessment standard remains the same.
Do I have to pay?
Do I have to pay?
You do not pay for the apprenticeship or the learning materials included in the programme. Your employer’s funding route depends on its levy status, available funds, your age, start date and eligibility. We’ll confirm the details during your consultation.
Can my employer's levy pay for AI automation training?
Can my employer's levy pay for AI automation training?
Yes. Artificial Intelligence and Automation Practitioner is an approved Level 4 apprenticeship standard. If your employer pays the apprenticeship levy and has sufficient funds available, those funds may cover the training and assessment up to the funding band maximum. If your employer does not pay the levy, government funding or employer co-investment may apply under the current funding rules.
How much time does it take?
How much time does it take?
The programme runs for 18 months and includes 420 hours of off-the-job training, which works out at around six hours a week. This time is used for learning, project work, mentoring and assessment during working hours.
Which tools will I learn, n8n or Power Automate?
Which tools will I learn, n8n or Power Automate?
You choose the route that fits your organisation's systems. The two routes are ChatGPT with n8n and Microsoft Copilot with Power Automate. The qualification, projects and assessment standard are the same on both routes.
Do I need to pay for any tools?
Do I need to pay for any tools?
You should not need to pay for tools or subscriptions to complete the programme. Boom Training provides the tools included in your route, or your employer provides access through its existing licences. We’ll confirm what is included before you start.
What support do I get?
What support do I get?
You'll have support from a Learner Success Coach, who contacts you during your first two weeks and stays with you throughout the programme. Technical Mentors review your projects, and you can join live sessions to ask questions, work through problems and learn alongside other people on the programme.
Start where you already are
Bring a real task or process from your organisation. You do not need previous coding experience or a fully developed AI strategy. We'll help you choose the route that fits your organisation's systems and apply the programme to work connected to your role.