Technical

AI Agents & Automation

Building AI systems that actually work. A grounded, practical course on agents, automation and orchestration — without the hype, without the jargon, and with real working examples you can build yourself.

22+ hours
9 Modules
Intermediate
4.9 Rating

What You'll Learn

Grounded, practical agent and automation knowledge — deliberately anti-hype.

Agent Fundamentals

What agents actually are, the difference between chatbots, workflows and autonomous agents.

Build Your Own Agent

Step-by-step construction, testing, iteration and common pitfalls to avoid.

RAG Explained

What RAG is, when to use it, document processing and vector databases made simple.

Multi-Agent Systems

Agent swarms, orchestration patterns, handoffs and coordination strategies.

Automation Stack

Zapier, Make, n8n, custom scripts — when to use what and integration patterns.

Safety & Governance

Guardrails, human-in-the-loop, monitoring and responsible deployment.

Workflow Design

Mapping processes, identifying automation candidates and designing reliable systems.

Real-World Projects

Complete build-alongs: research agent, content pipeline, customer service system.

Course Curriculum

9 modules cutting through the hype with grounded, practical knowledge.

01

What AI Agents Actually Are

4 lessons

Definitions that actually make sense
Agent vs chatbot vs workflow
Anatomy of an agent
Current state of reality (not hype)
02

The Agent Architecture

5 lessons

Planning and reasoning
Memory systems
Tool use and function calling
Feedback loops
Single vs multi-agent systems
03

Building Your First Agent

5 lessons

Step-by-step agent construction
Tool selection and setup
Testing and iteration
Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
Your first working agent
04

RAG Explained Simply

5 lessons

What RAG is and why it matters
When to use RAG (and when not to)
Document processing pipelines
Vector databases demystified
Practical RAG implementation
05

Multi-Agent Systems

4 lessons

Agent swarms and orchestration
Handoff patterns between agents
Specialisation and coordination
When multi-agent is overkill
06

The Automation Stack

5 lessons

Zapier for AI automation
Make (Integromat) workflows
n8n and open-source options
When to use what tool
Integration patterns and best practices
07

AI Workflow Design

4 lessons

Mapping processes for automation
Identifying automation candidates
Designing reliable systems
Error handling and edge cases
08

Agent Safety & Governance

4 lessons

Guardrails and safety boundaries
Human-in-the-loop design
Monitoring and testing
Responsible deployment practices
09

Real-World Agent Projects

5 lessons

Build-along: Research agent
Build-along: Content pipeline
Build-along: Customer service system
Build-along: Data analyst agent
Your custom agent project

Who This Course Is For

Curious Professionals

Technically curious professionals wanting to understand agents (no coding required).

Business Analysts

Business analysts and operations managers exploring process automation.

Developers

Developers wanting structured, practical agent knowledge beyond tutorials.

Innovation Teams

Innovation teams evaluating AI automation opportunities for their organisations.

RC

Your Instructor

Rupert Chesman

Filmmaker turned AI educator who builds working agent systems, not theoretical frameworks. Rupert's deliberately anti-hype approach cuts through the noise to deliver practical, honest knowledge about what agents can and can't do today. His courses have reached 1000s of students worldwide, earning a consistent 4.9 rating.

1000s of Students
100+ Countries
4.9 Rating
Filmmaker + AI Educator

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to know how to code?

No. The course is designed for technically curious people who may not be developers. Many of the tools and platforms covered use visual interfaces. Where code appears, it's explained step-by-step. Developers will find the structured approach valuable, but coding is not a prerequisite.

Why "intermediate" level? What should I know first?

You should be comfortable using AI chatbots and understand basic concepts like prompting, tokens and context windows. If you've completed a fundamentals AI course or have been using ChatGPT or Claude regularly for a few months, you're ready for this course.

Is this just another hype course about agents?

The opposite. This course is deliberately anti-hype. It teaches you what agents actually can and can't do today, when simpler solutions are better than agents, and how to evaluate agent claims critically. If you want honest, grounded knowledge rather than breathless predictions, this is the right course.

Will I build real, working agents in this course?

Yes. Module 3 walks you through building your first agent, and Module 9 contains four complete build-along projects: a research agent, content pipeline, customer service system and data analyst. These are real, working systems you can adapt for your own needs.

What tools and platforms does this course cover?

The course covers the full automation stack: Zapier, Make, n8n, and custom solutions. For agents, it uses multiple platforms and frameworks. The focus is on understanding patterns rather than any single tool, so your knowledge stays relevant as the landscape evolves.

Ready to Start?

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