Nattlie Smith, a proud Wiradjuri woman from Condobolin/Orange, New South Wales, and the Director for Aboriginal Outcomes at the NSW Department of Customer Service, has always been driven by a passion for making a positive difference in her community. She’s a strong advocate for the importance of Aboriginal people having a voice in service design and program implementation.

In early 2023, Nattlie embarked on a transformative journey as a participant of Cohort 3 of the AI Fluency Sprint. The microcredential she earned as a sprint graduate played a pivotal role in securing the prestigious Roberta Sykes Scholarship for mid-career professionals, offered by Chief Executive Women (CEW) in partnership with Aurora Education Foundation. The scholarship, named after Dr Roberta Sykes, a renowned advocate for Indigenous and women's rights, provided Nattlie with the opportunity to study Artificial Intelligence and Policy at the esteemed Harvard Kennedy School, a global leader in public policy education.

Nattlie’s journey serves as an inspiration to others, highlighting the potential and positive impact that can be unlocked through initiatives like the AI Fluency Sprint. The sprint’s role in her success underscores the importance of providing accessible, high-quality education on disruptive topics to leaders and professionals. By equipping leaders like Nattlie with the knowledge and tools to navigate the AI landscape, the sprint is helping to create a more inclusive and responsible future for all.

Nattlie’s story is a resounding reminder that lifelong learning can be life-changing.

Our AI Fluency Sprint was a result of intrapreneurial initiative and collaboration (we partnered with the Deloitte AI Institute from the outset). The sprint combines academic expertise with industry insights, an uncommon approach in higher education. Here’s what we learned:

Intrapreneurs should aim for a tangible prototype early to showcase their idea's potential. We created a basic version of the sprint format and digital platform to visualise the concept for stakeholders and help them understand our vision. Pilot projects serve as proof of concept, allowing for refinement and iteration. Ask questions, listen to feedback, learn from experiences, and continually hone your offering.

Running a small-scale sprint with select participants provided invaluable feedback and highlighted areas for improvement. This iterative approach, coupled with openness to rapid adjustments, was key to evolving the format before full implementation.

Involving potential participants early ensured the content met real-world needs and created advocates for scaling enrolments. This approach helped us achieve a 95% satisfaction rate and expand to over 1,000 participants across 220 organisations in under two years.

For leaders wanting to foster intrapreneurship, we suggest creating spaces that encourage and reward experimentation. Provide small budgets and the flexibility to operate outside established structures like traditional planning and budgeting tools. These can stifle creativity and agility. Instead, our success stemmed from the ability to pilot projects and iterate quickly.

Breaking conventions can be both challenging and rewarding. Celebrate and socialise successes within your organisation to inspire others and secure funding for scaling. Intrapreneurship is infectious.

Our vision is to equip leaders with the skills they need to lead through anything—fostering a community of forward-thinking executives prepared to tackle the complex challenges of our rapidly changing economies and societies.

Building on the success of the AI Fluency Sprint, we plan to expand into a comprehensive leadership and organisational upskilling initiative called Sydney Executive Plus (SE+). This strategic initiative of The University of Sydney Business School reimagines executive learning for the digital age and focuses on cutting-edge areas of disruption and leadership.

SE+ has already launched four sprints: AI Fluency, Brand Leadership, Net Zero, and Geopolitics and Business. In our portfolio pipeline are sprints on productive workplace communities, self-leadership, inclusive leadership, and managing through complexity. These upcoming sprints will continue our collaborative approach: they’ll be co- designed and delivered with best-in-class industry partners.

Our plans are inspired and guided by our Skills Horizon research project, which identifies future leadership needs through interviews with global and Australian leaders across diverse fields. This ongoing research ensures our offerings remain future-focused, providing orientation and upskilling for leaders navigating disruptive and disorienting times.

Looking ahead, we aim to solidify SE+ as the destination for leadership upskilling in the Asia-Pacific region. So far, so good. We’re uniquely positioned to offer both individual upskilling and organisation-wide solutions. We're building a rich and diverse range of upskilling partnerships by leveraging both the University of Sydney's global top 20 status and our growing partner network. And we’re constantly refining our digital-first, sprint-based learning model.