Build Your Claude Brain
A hands-on half-day where you walk out with your own Claude “second brain” set up and running against your real work - not just another AI talk.
Everyone has the same AI. The edge is what you load into it.
Your business, your processes, your files - that’s what turns chatting with AI into getting real work done. You’ll set up your own Claude against your actual work and walk out with it running.
Not a lecture: a short foundations session, then hands-on building all morning with Blake and Jack walking the room.
Christchurch owners, founders and professionals
For people who want to actually use AI in their work, not just chat with it. Beginner-to-intermediate, no coding required. We keep the room small so everyone gets hands-on help.
- Your own Claude set up the right way - plan, privacy settings, persistent context
- The key connectors live - Notion / Gmail / Google Drive / Calendar, whatever fits your work
- 1-2 saved Skills for the jobs you do over and over
- At least one working automation, built against your real files
- A prioritised list of what to build next, so you keep going after the morning
Your Claude, wired into the tools you already use.
Mostly hands on keyboard
Arrival
Coffee + pastries, welcome, quick intros and what each person wants out of it
Foundations + live demos
Plain-English mental model, then Claude live: Projects, connectors, Skills, agents
Map your use cases
Map your own work and pick the 1-2 highest-value things to build today
Morning tea
Snacks, reset
Build your Claude brain
Free rein. Everyone builds their own; Blake + Jack float and unblock
Wrap + show & tell
Share what you built, next-steps list, light lunch platter so people hang around
What to bring
- A laptop, charged - we build on laptops, not phones
- Claude Pro (~$40/mo) - sign up before the day. Pro covers Projects, connectors and Skills, and is separate from your ticket
- 2-3 real work examples to build against (a typical email, a document, a recurring task)
- Logins handy for whatever you want to connect (Notion / Google / Gmail) - bring them on the day
Two people walking the room
Blake Harkness
Harkness AI · Fractional AI EngineerBlake runs AI education across New Zealand and sets Claude up to run the day-to-day for Kiwi businesses. He leads the foundations, the live Claude demos, and the build help.
Jack
PowerhouseA mechatronics engineer turned business owner, Jack runs Powerhouse on this exact Claude setup and shows you how it actually works in a real business. He brings the owner's view - and hands-on help while you build.
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Recently completed a half day course with Blake building my Claude Brain. The course was insightful & practical. Running 2 companies I know this is going to help me claw back some time on a lot of the repetitive tasks. Thank you Blake, excellent value and advice.
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Last updated 7 July 2026