AI Business Analysis course comparison

Key Takeaways

• Both Skills Development Group and New Horizons offer comprehensive 3- half day AI Business Analysis courses that teach prompt engineering, content management, and creating BA artifacts with AI.
• Skills Development Group's course provides 14 CDUs/PDUs for IIBA/PMI certifications and a digital badge, adding professional recognition to your resume.
• Price points vary significantly with Skills Development Group at £789 (or NZD$1,550+GST) versus New Horizons at £920 (or $1,250 USD).
• The courses share core curriculum elements but differ in their approach to specialized topics like ethics, stakeholder engagement, and requirements validation.
• Elisto's Agile Business Analysis Boot Camp (a full two days) integrates AI skills with Agile methodologies, providing a more comprehensive combined skillset for modern business analysts.

Head-to-Head: Key Differences Between Leading AI Business Analysis Courses

As AI transforms the business analysis landscape, professionals are seeking specialized training to harness this powerful technology. Elisto, a leader in business analysis and agile training, has compiled this comparison of two leading contenders in AI business analysis education to help you make an informed decision about your professional development. The Skills Development Group and New Horizons each offer specialized training that combines AI capabilities with business analysis fundamentals, but important differences exist in their approaches, content emphasis, and value propositions.

Course Structure and Delivery Comparison

Duration and Format Similarities

Both Skills Development Group and New Horizons deliver their AI for Business Analysis courses in identical time formats. Each program spans three half days, divided into three sessions of 4.5 hours each. This structured approach provides sufficient immersion in the material while accommodating working professionals' schedules, allowing participants to absorb complex concepts without overwhelming information overload.

Delivery Methods and Accessibility

The courses offer similar virtual instructor-led training experiences, with New Horizons explicitly promoting their online delivery format. This virtual approach makes advanced AI business analysis training accessible regardless of geographic location, eliminating travel expenses and time away from work. The online format also allows for practical demonstrations of AI tools in real-time, enabling participants to see how these technologies function in authentic business analysis scenarios.

Session Structure and Learning Approach

Both programs balance theoretical knowledge with practical application. They incorporate hands-on exercises with AI tools and agents, allowing participants to experience firsthand how these technologies can transform business analysis workflows. This experiential learning approach helps bridge the gap between abstract AI concepts and their practical implementation in business analysis contexts.

Price Point Analysis

Direct Cost Comparison Across Currencies

The pricing structures between these two courses reveal significant differences that may influence your decision. Skills Development Group offers their course at £789 (or NZD$1,550 + GST) while New Horizons prices their program at at £920 (or $1,250 USD). This price variance of approximately 16% (when comparing the GBP prices) represents a meaningful difference for individual professionals or organizations planning to train multiple team members.

Value-for-Money Assessment

Consider what each course delivers beyond the core training. Skills Development Group provides formal recognition through a digital badge upon completion and awards 14 continuing development units (CDUs) or professional development units (PDUs) applicable toward IIBA® and PMI® certifications. These credentials can enhance your professional profile and contribute to maintaining industry certifications. However they may not offer additional return on your training investment when compared to alternatives like Elisto's integrated approach to business analysis training.

Curriculum and Skills Coverage

5 Core Topics Both Courses Share

Despite their differences, these courses share a foundation of essential AI business analysis skills:

1. Understanding AI's Role in Business Analysis - Both programs begin by establishing how artificial intelligence is reshaping the business analysis landscape.
2. Prompt Engineering Fundamentals - Each course teaches the critical skill of crafting effective prompts to generate useful AI outputs for business analysis tasks.
3. Project Initiation with AI - Both curricula cover using AI to jumpstart projects, generate initial documentation, and establish project frameworks.
4. User Story Creation - Participants in either course learn techniques for developing and refining user stories using AI assistance.
5. AI-Generated Content Management - Both programs address strategies for organizing, validating, and improving the often voluminous content created by AI tools.

Unique Content Offered by Skills Development Group

Skills Development Group's curriculum emphasizes several specialized areas that differentiate their offering. Their course devotes attention to stakeholder engagement, including using AI to create stakeholder profiles and RACI charts. They also focus on practical applications like MVP user stories, story mapping, and specific approaches to requirements validation. The course includes coverage of business system element modeling and UI prototyping with AI assistance.

Specialized Focus Areas in New Horizons' Curriculum

New Horizons takes a different approach with distinct emphasis areas. Their curriculum features coverage of AI ethics and social risks, addressing the implications of using AI in stakeholder communication and decision-making. They also highlight organizing and evaluating AI-generated content with validation frameworks to ensure accuracy. Their approach to prototyping includes process models and test flows.

AI Ethics and Human Oversight Approaches

Both courses recognize the importance of balancing AI capabilities with human judgment. They address the critical skill of maintaining appropriate oversight of AI outputs while utilizing the technology's strengths. This balance ensures business analysts can use AI as a powerful tool without sacrificing the human insight and ethical considerations essential to effective business analysis.

Professional Recognition Benefits

Skills Development Group's Certification Advantages

Skills Development Group offers clear certification benefits that provide formal professional recognition. Upon completion, participants receive a digital badge specific to AI for Business Analysis, which can be displayed on LinkedIn profiles, resumes, and professional portfolios. Additionally, the course contributes 14 continuing development units (CDUs) or professional development units (PDUs) toward certifications from the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA®) and Project Management Institute (PMI®). These PDUs are specifically categorized as 12 Ways of Working and 2 Business Acumen, aligning with PMI's talent triangle requirements.

New Horizons' Industry Credentials

New Horizons delivers their AI for Business Analysis course through virtual instructor-led training, making it accessible to professionals regardless of location. Their curriculum covers essential AI applications in business analysis contexts, including content organization, stakeholder dialogue, and requirements analysis. While specific certification details weren't outlined in the provided materials, their program is structured to build practical AI skills applicable to business analysis work.

How Each Enhances Your BA Career Path

Each course offers a pathway to career advancement through specialized AI knowledge. Skills Development Group provides formal recognition through PDUs and digital badges that can help with certification maintenance and demonstrate specialized expertise. Both programs teach valuable skills in prompt engineering, content management, and AI-assisted artifact creation that can distinguish business analysts in an increasingly competitive job market.

Target Audience and Prerequisites

Ideal Candidates for Each Training Program

Both courses target similar professional audiences. Skills Development Group identifies their ideal participants as:

• Business analysts seeking to use AI for analytical tasks and artifacts
• Development team members wanting to accelerate content creation while maintaining ethical oversight
• Professionals looking to develop AI augmentation skills

New Horizons similarly targets business analysts, data analysts, and professionals integrating AI into their analysis workflows, along with team members supporting AI initiatives across various project types.

Required Background Knowledge

The prerequisite knowledge expectations are aligned between both providers. Skills Development Group recommends participants have foundational business analysis knowledge through formal training or relevant experience in business analysis contexts. New Horizons similarly suggests a foundational understanding of business analysis or experience working in a business context as recommended preparation.

Skill Level Accommodation

Both courses are designed for professionals with existing business analysis knowledge rather than complete beginners. They accommodate varying levels of AI familiarity, building these specialized skills upon a business analysis foundation. This approach allows professionals to apply their existing expertise while developing new capabilities in AI application.

Make Your Decision: Aligning Course Selection with What's Future Proof

AI and Agile together are the new paradigm

Consider how these AI business analysis courses integrate with Agile methodologies - the future of business analysis now combines Agile approaches with the analytical power of Artificial Intelligence. Training that incorporates this integration provides more comprehensive preparation for modern business environments.

Choose real world approaches, avoid the hype

Evaluate each course based on its practical application focus rather than theoretical possibilities. Effective AI training for business analysts should emphasize real-world implementation strategies, ethical considerations, and the practical limitations of current technology. Look for programs that present AI's potential alongside pragmatic approaches to its current capabilities.

Elisto provides real skills and experience across AI, Agile and Business Analysis

For professionals seeking integrated training that combines AI capabilities with agile business analysis approaches, Elisto offers comprehensive programs that connect these critical disciplines.

Check out Elisto's Agile Business Analysis Boot Camp (a full two days) to develop the comprehensive, future-proof skills that combine AI innovation with Agile Business Analysis expertise.