Joana Cerejo

Why Personas Fail AI (And What Works)

Joana Cerejo, PhD

UX lead and researcher shaping human centered AI and anticipatory design

Static goals vs evolving user intent. Narratives hide current behavioral state. Singular focus blocks AI personalization

Spot personas gaps in the age of AI

Personas miss behavior change stages and their triggers. See what TTM + Fogg reveal that demographics cannot.

What personas ignore about behavior change

Replace demographics with audience factors: track stage+motivation+ability states that actually drive AI behavior.

Audience factors as an alternative to static personas

Gain hands-on mastery of AI research tools and frameworks to deliver trusted insights faster while maintaining the rigor that matters.

AI Research Expert | Johns Hopkins PhD

Google

Capital One

Bloomberg

Pinterest

John Whalen, PhD

AI for UX Expert | Fortune 500 clientele | CEO, author & speaker

November 2025

Schedules alternate by cohort to support multiple time zones. This cohort meets in the afternoon (ET).


March 2026

<pre><code class="language-markdown">If you're anxious that AI might make your skills obsolete, you're not alone. Customer research is changing fast—and whether you're a seasoned researcher or a designer or PM now expected to gather insights, you need to create results you can trust in an AI-powered world.

Here's the challenge: AI tools promise speed and scale, but can you trust the output? How do you maintain quality while leveraging AI's power?

The gap is widening. Some teams spend weeks gathering insights manually while AI-confident practitioners deliver trustworthy results in days at 10x scale. The difference isn't just speed—it's who gets invited to strategic conversations, who leads high-impact projects, and who shapes decisions with confidence.

This course gives you frameworks to evaluate quality and trust. You'll access enterprise-grade tools, learn from founders building these platforms, and develop critical judgment to distinguish reliable insights from AI noise.

You'll try tools yourself and form your own conclusions. No hype. Just practical expertise from someone who's tested hundreds of tools and knows what delivers trustworthy insights.</code></pre>

Create Customer Insights with AI You Can Actually Trust

Conduct AI-moderated customer interviews confidently

Extract insights from 50+ interviews using AI-powered analysis tools

Develop frameworks to assess new AI tools and know when they actually work

Use synthetic users for rapid testing and validation of ideas before launch

Guide your team or organization in adopting AI research tools and best practices

Connect with practitioners navigating AI research together and sharing insights

You've worked with customer insights in some capacity—whether you've conducted research yourself, collaborated with researchers on your team

Experience with customer research or user feedback

This is a practical course with weekly exercises using AI platforms. You'll need time to experiment and apply what you learn.

Willingness to try new tools hands-on

We use tools and prompting techniques that don't require any coding knowledge. If you can write clear instructions, you're ready.

No technical background required

Researchers seeking to deliver insights faster at scale using AI—while maintaining the quality and rigor that makes their work trustworthy.

PMs and research leaders balancing the need for rapid customer insights with concerns about maintaining quality, rigor, and team standards.

Designers seeking practical AI tools to understand users, test concepts, and make evidence-based design decisions with confidence and speed.

Develop the rare skill of listening to what your market needs but can't yet name — so when you make decisions, you're just right.

AI Research Leader •Ex-Meta, Uber, Apple

Uber

Apple

Canvas8

Abi Awomosu

AI Research Leader • Ex-Uber, Meta •  Bestselling Author of 'How Not to Use AI'

Cohort 6

Cohort 7

Most leaders don’t struggle with access to ideas or data. They struggle with knowing what matters before it’s obvious or too late.Most AI research courses teach extraction: summarize quicker, automate the asking, replacing the human with the synthetic.The Billion Person Focus Group® does the opposite. You use AI as a listening partner to access patterns from places where people actually gather and speak unfiltered— forums, communities, support tickets, sales calls, product data.Triangulate across sources. Bring receipts. Then hand off what you find to surveys, interviews, or experiments.Discovery first. Validation second.This isn't "move fast and break things." It's see first—act once.In two days, you’ll apply this to a real high-stakes decision and leave with:<ul><li>Visual market landscape maps </li><li>3–5 decision-ready hypotheses</li><li>A ready-to-run Listening OS — agents, workflows, cookbooks — customized to your market</li><li>A validation plan you can execute Monday</li></ul>And you keep everything — for the next launch, the next client, the next pivot. Stop renting insights. Start owning the capability.

See what your market really needs—before you build, launch, or scale. 

See your market as it actually exists— not how dashboards flatten it

Identify emerging market trends before they become mainstream.

Discover  the 'unknown unknowns' — what your market feels but can't say

Assemble AI advisors that shape decisions  — not yes-machines who confirm

Move at AI speed without losing the human meaning in the data

Stop renting insights or more AI tools — develop internal intelligence you keep

The course is taught primarily using Claude, but the methodology works across platforms. No technical skills required.

Familiarity with AI tools — you've used ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or similar. 

Strategic Leaders (Product, Marketing, Strategy Leaders, Consultants) who need to spot opportunities before competitors or de-risk big bets

Founders, Entrepreneurs or Innovators who want to stop guessing at product-market fit and meet needs that actually exist

Senior Practitioners (Designers, Marketers, Strategists, Researchers) who want to ground their work in real signal — not assumptions

AI is here to stay. The real question is how you make yourself visible in a world where algorithms, automation, and endless noise dominate. The answer lies in building a brand that starts with your story and grows into a strategy you can sustain. We begin by working on the foundations of your narrative. You’ll learn why stories cut through better than any algorithm, how to use frameworks like the ARC Method (Authenticity → Resonance → Credibility), and how to turn your lived experiences into leadership themes that resonate. Along the way, you’ll define your values, identify your archetype, and develop a brand compass that gives you a clear direction. Just so you know...We are a social enterprise, which means we keep our pricing intentionally low to remain inclusive and accessible, reinvesting any surplus to fund our wider social impact programmes. If you would like to take part but cannot afford the course right now, please email jasminehasmatali@wearebreakthrough.org to receive an application form to join the course at no cost. We reserve a % of spots each cohort for applicants. What makes this course different to others focused on building your brand?We teach you to use AI as an amplifier for your authentic voice while giving you a framework to keep your brand evolving over time. AI as an AmplifierWe’ll explore how AI can help without replacing your voice:- Refining tone, identifying themes, and repurposing content- Tools for planning and scheduling so you can stay consistent- Ethical guidelines to ensure your brand feels human, not automated Planning for EvolutionYour brand is not static. We’ll close with:- A framework to refresh your story as you and your industry change- Ways to listen to your audience and adapt your message- Practical exercises to test and refine your approach over time By the end, you’ll have built your own Brand Playbook, which includes:- A purpose-driven narrative rooted in your experiences- A set of values, an archetype, and a brand compass to guide decisions- Clear messaging pillars and a channel strategy that fits you- A 30-day action plan supported by AI tools- A framework to evolve your brand over time This course is about helping you show up consistently, communicate with clarity, and build a brand that feels unmistakably yours—even in the AI era.

Create a personal brand that doesn’t just survive the AI era, but leads in it. 

Course syllabus

Day 1: The Inner Narrative (Story &amp; Meaning)<ul><li>Discover why story cuts through noise better than algorithms</li><li>Craft your origin story and map your turning points into leadership themes</li><li>Define your brand compass: values, archetype, and voice</li><li>Draft messaging pillars</li></ul>

January 8th

Day 2: The Outer Strategy <ul><li>Learn how to use AI to refine your story and scale your visibility</li><li>Build a content system and design your signature content format</li><li>Create a 90-day AI-assisted action plan</li><li>Develop a framework for evolving your brand as you and your audience grow</li></ul>

January 11th

Course schedule

🌱 The Career Pivoter: You’re moving into a new chapter—and want your brand to reflect your evolution, not just your past.

🧠 The Emerging Thought Leader: You’re ready to turn your lived experience into a clear, credible, and compelling brand voice.

👩‍💻 The Visionary Founder: Building more than a business—you want your story to fuel a movement and a message that scales.

Who is this course for

What you’ll get out of this course

Give students an idea of how they can expect to grow throughout your course. Include specificity and precise results so students can benchmark exactly what they’ll learn.

Define your core narrative: Craft a compelling story rooted in your lived experience that aligns with your mission, audience, and vision.

Identify the language, tone, and messaging pillars that differentiate your leadership in a crowded digital space.

Build a scalable content and brand strategy that connects your values to market-relevant visibility and growth.

Learn how to activate your brand through platforms, offers, and messaging systems designed for the AI-powered world.

In an era defined by automation, noise, and algorithmic influence, your story is your strongest signal - learn how to lead with it. 

Sobanan Narenthiran

January 2026

March 2026 Cohort

Master a proven system to create clear, persuasive presentations in half the time using AI as your strategic thinking partner.

This is a hybrid learning experience that combines:
•	8 self-paced modules delivered between January–April 2026
•	2 live, 60-minute coaching sessions in April 2026
•	Lifetime access to all module recordings
•	Lifetime access to all live session recordings
•	Templates, checklists, prompt packs, and before/after examples

The course is currently open for pre-sale at a substantially reduced price of £249 (full price £399).


Cohort 1

Ex-JPMorgan VP | Presentation Expert

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Commerzbank

PwC UK

MaryBeth Hazeldine

Presentation psychology expert with 35 years training Fortune 500 professionals

You know presentations matter. They shape decisions, win clients, and move careers forward. But creating them? That's exhausting.You spend hours wrestling with structure, rewriting messaging that doesn't land. By the time you're done, you're not even confident it will work.AI promises to help, but most people end up with generic outputs and robotic messaging. The tool saves time on the wrong things.Here's what's needed: a strategic approach combining AI efficiency with presentation psychology—the clarity, structure, and persuasion that makes people act.This course teaches exactly that. You'll use AI not as a shortcut, but as a thinking partner. You'll learn frameworks like AVP (Action-Value-Proof) and messaging psychology that transform unclear ideas into compelling narratives.You'll build presentations faster—yes. But more importantly, you'll build them better. Clearer structure. Stronger messaging. More impact.By the end, you'll have a repeatable workflow that cuts creation time in half while dramatically improving quality. No more staring at blank slides. No more second-guessing. Just confident, persuasive presentations—every time.

Master AI-powered presentations that persuade, save time, and win decisions

Structure presentations that are clear, logical, and impossible to ignore

Craft persuasive messaging that resonates and drives action

Build a repeatable AI workflow that saves 10+ hours per week on presentations

Turn data and complex information into stories people actually understand

Professionals who create presentations regularly and want to save hours while delivering clearer, more persuasive, impactful results

Managers, consultants, and client-facing roles who need to influence stakeholders and communicate complex ideas with confidence

Ambitious professionals who want to stand out by mastering communication skills that position them as clear, strategic business leaders