The writer, Julia Blume, works as a Senior AI consultant at DAIN Studios, where she helps companies move from talking about AI to actually using it. In her workshops across industries, from retail to manufacturing, she sees firsthand how a simple live demo can turn skepticism into curiosity.
In my work as an AI consultant, I’ve learned that people understand and remember AI best when they see it in use or even use it themselves. During training and workshops with different companies, real interest comes when I show how an AI tool works in practice, live, and step-by-step. Here’s why this practical approach leads to real results.
Everyone who attends our training or workshops has heard about AI or generative AI, but it can seem overwhelming or confusing to them. I have learned that when I show an AI tool, for example, having a natural conversation with ChatGPT, or building something like a podcast from uploaded documents with NotebookLM, that’s when participants start to connect the idea to their own work.
One of the most engaging demos I’ve shared was a fully AI-driven marketing campaign, designed to show how AI can support people with limited marketing experience in developing campaign ideas and drafts.
When AI Turns From Theory Into Practice
To illustrate this in practice, I guide participants step by step through an AI-driven marketing campaign — from the first idea to the finished draft. The process included five steps:
- Brainstorming campaign concepts and brand partnerships with ChatGPT
- Building a detailed marketing strategy covering goals, target audiences, timelines, and budgets
- Developing a visual concept and creative briefing
- Generating mood boards and key visuals with Midjourney
- Producing multimedia assets such as newsletters, jingles, and influencer videos with ChatGPT, Suno AI, OpenAI.fm, and HeyGen.
While the outcome wasn’t a campaign ready for publication, it clearly demonstrated how AI can accelerate ideation and prototyping, from strategy to visuals and media content. At the same time, our discussions emphasized that human creativity and expertise remain indispensable for creating meaningful, high-quality campaigns.
Another example from last month, was a ChatGPT voice mode demo where I simulated a conversation in a hearing aid shop. I, as the employee of the shop, asked ChatGPT some questions that I imagined would be important in selecting a hearing aid for the customer. The demo lasted about a minute and showed how well AI could handle a specific customer dialogue, even transcribing the conversation in real time. In the end, I asked ChatGPT for feedback about my way of approaching the customer. Our take was that this technology could help to train the shop employees and give comprehensive feedback and checklists for sales conversations. The participants liked it a lot and transformed the demo into their own needs and opportunities.
The Power of Hands-On Experience
Letting people try an AI tool themselves, even for a simple task, makes all the difference. I often help participants set up accounts during the session, so they get past the first hurdle. The entry barrier to using AI has been tremendously lowered by tools as ChatGPT during the past 2-3 years. Today, users do not need to code or program anymore to use AI, but can interact with AI tools in natural language. Watching them test an AI tool shows that they don’t need advanced skills to get started, just a willingness to explore. Many of them have some ideas already on how to apply it in their job, or even in their private life, and creating an explorative atmosphere with room for errors adds to the creativity for AI use.
Another demo that stayed in people’s minds was in Perplexity’s Comet browser. I asked for their favorite dish and gave Comet the prompt to open a shopping cart at Rewe online (a German grocery chain) and add all the items needed for spaghetti with walnut pesto. We could follow how Comet would search within its interface for different ingredients, and eventually Comet opened the Rewe tab with the full shopping cart that I could review before checkout.
Comet Browser on Rewe.de
4x speed
Lowering the Barrier to Entry
Many people feel unsure at first. A new interface can be overwhelming, and I have learned that a simple demo of its functionalities helps a lot. Watching a tool in real use, with guidance, helps them get familiar. A live demo makes AI approachable and less intimidating.
For AI to be useful, people need to actually use it. That’s why I encourage them to take the first steps right away. At the end of each workshop, I ask everyone to note down their next action with an AI tool, making the experience part of their work routine. If they push registration or testing to “later,” I see that it often doesn’t happen.
From Demo to Daily Routine
I believe, that if people don’t use new tools themselves, nothing changes. By giving them direct experience, they are learning by doing, not just by listening. This is what helps them take AI into their own daily routine and find value in it.