Watch & learn
Not a dump of five hundred links. A short, honest list of real AI and automation videos and channels we'd actually point you to, picked for people running a business, not writing code. Every title, creator and link here is real, checked before it went on the page.
IBM Technology
IBM's own engineers untangle AI, machine learning, deep learning and generative AI, in plain terms and with no product pitch attached.
Watch on YouTubeWSJ Tech News Briefing (Wall Street Journal)
A Wall Street Journal podcast episode on why this wave of AI is genuinely different from past hype cycles, written for a general business listener, not developers.
Watch on YouTubeGoogle (Google Career Certificates)
Google's own free, self-paced course on what generative AI is, how to write a decent prompt, and how to use it responsibly. Under 10 hours, genuinely built for beginners, no coding.
Open the courseThe Gradient Descent
A short, plain-English walkthrough of what an LLM actually is and how it produces text. A good on-ramp before touching ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini for the first time.
Watch on YouTubeJeff Su
A former Google exec clears up what "AI agent" actually means versus a plain chatbot, useful before evaluating any tool that markets itself as agentic.
Watch on YouTubeJeff Su
A compact, reusable prompt formula (task, context, examples, persona, format, tone) that pairs well with our own prompting guide and course.
Watch on YouTubeAnthropic
Anthropic's own applied AI team on effective prompting, straight from the company that builds Claude. About as authoritative as prompting content gets.
Watch on YouTubeTechnically Trent
A quick, beginner-focused guide to writing clearer prompts specifically for Gemini, short enough to finish on a tea break.
Watch on YouTubeDaniel Gauthier, TwinBytes Inc
A working IT consultant's rundown of concrete ways a small business can put AI to use, from someone whose day job is fixing tech problems for owners like these, not selling AI hype.
Watch on YouTubePhilip VanDusen
A branding and marketing consultant with a 300,000+ subscriber channel on the common mistake of bolting AI onto an existing way of working instead of rethinking the task itself.
Watch on YouTubeSuccess With Sam
A beginner-friendly walkthrough of using ChatGPT for real small-business tasks, planning, marketing copy, customer messages, aimed at owners rather than developers.
Watch on YouTubeAlex Hormozi
An operator's blunt, ROI-focused take on where AI actually moves the needle in a business versus where it's just hype.
Watch on YouTubeHubSpot Marketing
A practical, tool-agnostic walkthrough from HubSpot on stacking AI tools to cut hours of weekly admin and marketing work.
Watch on YouTubeMinorCo
A from-scratch walkthrough of setting up your first "Zap": trigger, action, and the basic logic behind no-code automation. A third-party tutorial, not Zapier's own channel, but a clear one.
Watch on YouTubeSahil Khosla
A half-hour crash course in Make's more visual, flowchart-style automation builder. Worth watching once Zapier's basics start to feel limiting.
Watch on YouTubeZapier
Zapier's own channel: product walkthroughs and workflow examples straight from the company behind the tool, worth a browse once you know roughly what you're trying to automate.
Visit the channelStartupWise
A direct head-to-head of the three main no-code platforms, useful for deciding which one to actually learn first rather than trying all three at once.
Watch on YouTubeWebsite Learners
A full beginner course on n8n, from setup through building an AI agent workflow. Worth it once Zapier and Make start to feel limiting.
Watch on YouTubeJono Catliff
A comprehensive n8n walkthrough from a creator who built and automated his own business before teaching it. Covers pricing, webhooks and real integrations.
Watch on YouTubeGavin Thibodeau
A zero-to-advanced single-video Make.com course covering classic automations and AI-powered workflows, a longer alternative to the shorter Make.com crash course above.
Watch on YouTubeMatt Wolfe (Future Tools)
One of the most followed independent AI tool reviewers (900,000+ subscribers), running the FutureTools.io directory alongside the channel. He evaluates tools rather than just demoing them.
Watch on YouTubeThe Verge (The Vergecast)
Mainstream tech journalism talking through what "going all in" on AI actually looks like day to day. Sceptical and grounded rather than hype-driven.
Watch on YouTubeCNBC
CNBC's running playlist of AI news segments and expert interviews. Useful for keeping half an eye on what's changing in business AI without going deep.
Open the playlistT-Minus365
A focused review of the Microsoft 365 Copilot small-business SKU, relevant since most UK SMEs are already sat on Microsoft 365.
Watch on YouTubeKevin Stratvert
An honest, hands-on review of Notion AI's features and pricing from a former Microsoft PM turned trusted reviewer, helping owners decide if it's worth the add-on cost.
Watch on YouTubeIBM Technology
A steady stream of short, plain-English explainers on AI, cybersecurity and data from IBM engineers. A safe one to subscribe to and dip into whenever a new term comes up.
Visit the channelAI Explained
More in-depth than the rest of this list: careful, sceptical analysis of new AI model releases from the creator of the "Simple Bench" reasoning benchmark. Worth following once the basics make sense, not the place to start.
Visit the channelKevin Stratvert
A former Microsoft PM turned full-time tech educator: clear, honest tutorials and "is it worth it" reviews across Microsoft 365, Notion and the main no-code platforms.
Visit the channelMatt Wolfe
Runs FutureTools.io alongside one of the most-followed AI tool-curation channels around, with weekly roundups of new AI tools and honest, practical takes.
Visit the channelJono Catliff
An n8n and automation specialist who built and automated a real operating business before teaching it, rather than a tutorial-only channel.
Visit the channelNothing in that category yet. More on the way.
A couple of honesty notes: some entries link to a channel or an official course page rather than one specific video, where we couldn't independently confirm a single exact video title belonged to that creator. Video content and channel line-ups change; if a link ever goes stale, the channel name and search terms above should get you to the same place.
These videos will get you thinking. The masterclass in Manchester gets something built. Tickets are normally £20. This one's free, a limited-time offer to launch the series.
Reserve your seat