Walk away with a practical framework for creating a custom AI assistant for your publishing workflows.

This practical workshop is designed for publishing professionals across all departments who want practical AI, not theory. Participants will learn how custom AI assistants work, how they can support real publishing processes, and how to design one without coding. The focus is on concrete publishing use cases rather than generic AI demonstrations.

The session covers what custom AI assistants are, how they differ from standard prompting, and where tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot fit in a publishing environment. Participants will see a demonstration and learn the key building blocks of a useful assistant, including instructions, knowledge sources, output formats, quality controls, and guardrails.

The workshop provides a structured, repeatable framework that participants can apply immediately after the session. Attendees will receive the guidance, steps, documents and examples needed to create their own assistant, with example use cases for Leadership, Editorial, Marketing, Sales, Rights and Royalties, Operations and Production, and IT and Technology.

This is a practical session designed to help participants move from AI curiosity to concrete implementation. Attendees will leave with a clear assistant concept, reusable build instructions, publishing-specific examples, and the guidance and tools needed to begin creating and refining their own custom assistant immediately after the event.

The workshop is suitable for non-technical professionals as well as more technical attendees who want a repeatable framework for building reliable assistants with their teams.

Who should attend

Publishing professionals across departments who want to improve workflows, reduce repetitive work, standardize outputs, or make AI practically useful inside their organization. No technical background is required. ChatGPT will be the primary platform used in the workshop, though the principles and framework can also be applied to tools such as Gemini and Copilot.

What participants will gain

• A clear framework for designing custom AI assistants without technical      expertise
• Step-by-step guidance for building an assistant after the session
• Publishing-specific use cases to accelerate adoption
• Practical guidance on quality, consistency, and responsible AI use
• A clear assistant concept and the materials needed to begin building      immediately