AI Small Business Conference: Practical Prompts to Workflows

BizBurgh Presents: AI Small Business Conference

A hands-on AI conference for small and mid-sized businesses ready to move from experimentation to execution.

Event information

Tuesday, June 16th 2026
8:30 AM - 3:00 PM

Location:
Duquesne University Power Center Ballroom
1015 Forbes Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Event Type:
Conference
Cost:
Attend - $75.00/attendee
BizBurgh Presents: AI Small Business Conference

BizBurgh Presents: AI Small Business Conference

Thank You to Our Title Sponsor:

First Commonwealth Bank

From Practical Prompts to Automated Workflows

A hands-on AI conference for small and mid-sized businesses ready to move from experimentation to execution.

This is an in-person conference (Breakfast, lunch, and parking included)

Most AI events explain what AI could do. This one helps you build what AI should do for your business.

You’ll work through a realistic business scenario and leave with:

  • A repeatable AI decision framework
  • A reusable prompt pack
  • Draft content and multimedia assets
  • A starter AI workflow
  • A clear 30-day implementation plan

No hype. No theory-only sessions. Just practical, reusable work.


Who It’s For

  • Business owners and operators
  • Managers and team leads
  • Marketing, operations, training, and admin staff
  • SMBs/SMEs looking for immediate, low-risk AI impact

No technical background required.


What You’ll Do

Through short presentations and guided Skills Labs, you’ll progress step-by-step:

  1. Choose the right AI use case (value, feasibility, risk, ROI)
  2. Build better prompts for real business outcomes
  3. Create content and multimedia assets with guardrails
  4. Map a simple AI workflow using the tools you already use

Everything is designed for day-one reuse after the conference.


What You’ll Leave With

Conference Implementation Kit (digital)
Printed Skills Lab Workbook
Reusable business prompts
A starter AI workflow


Format

  • In-person experience
  • Structured instruction + guided labs
  • Bring a laptop or table
Detailed agenda (morning + lunch + early afternoon)
Total program time: 8:30 AM–3:00 PM (includes breakfast, lunch)

8:30–9:00 AM — Arrival, coffee, exhibitor networking
  • Check-in, Wi-Fi, seating
  • “Tool readiness” (participants encouraged to bring laptop/tablet)
  • Exhibitors open
9:00–9:15 AM — Welcome + outcomes
  • What participants will leave with
  • How the Skills Labs work (structured, guided)
9:15–9:30 AM — Futurecasting (grounded): what’s changing and why it matters
  • What’s shifting in the AI market for SMBs in the next 12–24 months
  • “What to do in the next 90 days” framing
9:30–10:05 AM — The practical AI landscape for SMBs (what it is / isn’t)
  • Where SMBs get real value vs hype
  • Core capability map: text, search, summarization, planning, content generation
  • Limitations and common failure modes
10:05–10:45 AM — The SMB AI decision framework (use-case selection + guardrails)
  • Pick the right use case (volume, repeatability, risk, ROI)
  • Resource assessment (people, process maturity, data readiness, budget)
  • Guardrails: privacy, IP, client data, and basic regulatory considerations
  • How to run pilots safely and measure outcomes
10:45–11:00 AM — Break + exhibitor touchpoint
 
11:00 AM–12:00 PM — Skills Lab Sequence (Part 1): Text → Strategy → Assets
Structure: guided individual work with timed checkpoints (no ambiguity) 
 
- Lab 1 (30 min): Prompting for business outcomes
  • Build a reusable “Business Prompt” (inputs → constraints → voice → output) 
  • Produce: a 1-page plan (e.g., campaign, SOP, onboarding outline) 
- Lab 2 (30 min): Content Velocity Sprint (quality-controlled) 
  • Turn the plan into a week/month content outline + draft assets 
  • Apply quality checks: brand voice, claims, compliance flags, review steps
12:00–1:00 PM — Lunch + guided practice
  • Participants continue the Lab exercises
  • Optional table “show-and-tell” moments
  • Exhibitors open
1:00–1:40 PM — Skills Lab Sequence (Part 2): Multimedia content engine
- Lab 3 (40 min): Image, audio, and video generation for SMB use cases
  • Produce: a short onboarding/training script + visual concept
  • Optional: intro to AI avatars for training/onboarding
  • Guardrails: permissions, brand safety, disclosure norms
1:40–2:55 PM — Skills Lab Sequence (Part 3): From tools to workflows (agentic AI mapping)
  • What “agentic” means in business terms (multi-step, multi-tool execution)
  • Guided workflow build:
    • Define the task end-to-end
    • Identify inputs, outputs, approvals, and integrations
    • Map to a simple multi-tool workflow (email/docs/scheduling/content pipeline)
  • Ecosystem note: why Microsoft and Google matter for many SMB workflows
2:55–3:00 PM — Wrap + next steps
  • Distribution of Implementation Kit + prompt pack
  • How to continue learning (resources + local vendor support)
  • Optional: book availability if completed in time

Register now and leave with AI tools you can use the very next day.

Speaker/Moderator: Ray-Sidney Smith, Digital Marketing Strategist, Hootsuite Global Brand Ambassador, Google Small Business Advisor for Productivity, and Managing Director of W3C Web Services

Thank You to Our Supporting Sponsors:

Live Oak Bank


Wilke CPAs & Advisors


Wilke CPAs & Advisors

 

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Interested in our other events?

The Duquesne University SBDC offers a variety of events to help you start, grow, and exit your business . We have a full calander of events as well!