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Hands-on AI Playbook

About

James Gray

I’m James Gray. I built this playbook because I believe the best way to accelerate innovation is to make complex things simple — and then share them freely.

A Bit of Background

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I teach data and AI strategy at UC Berkeley Haas Executive Education — including the largest AI program in the school’s portfolio, plus custom programs for companies like Capital One — reaching between 1,200 and 2,500 senior leaders a year. I also run hands-on cohort courses on Maven for leaders and builders.

Before teaching, I spent nearly a decade at Microsoft building the data and analytics platforms the business ran on. I’ve since held Chief Product Officer and Chief Information Officer roles across global enterprises and high-growth startups. My work sits at the intersection of product management, data, and AI.

Today, as founder of JamesGray.AI, I advise leaders through consulting, fractional AI leadership, executive coaching, and hands-on learning. I hold an MS in Information and Data Science and an MBA from UC Berkeley, a BS in Electrical Engineering from Union College, and a leadership and performance coaching certification from Brown University.

One conviction runs through all of it: AI accelerates and amplifies human capability, and realizing that takes both hands-on technical mastery and self-leadership.

Why This Exists

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My driving purpose is straightforward: accelerate innovation for people, business, and technology. The three aren’t separate — when people grow, the business innovates. When the business innovates, the technology evolves. And when technology improves, it unlocks new potential in people. It’s a virtuous cycle, and AI is the catalyst that speeds all of it up.

I’ve spent my career distilling complexity into something easier to understand and apply. AI is the most transformative technology I’ve seen, and the gap between what’s possible and what most people know how to do is enormous. This playbook exists to close that gap.

What the Playbook Is

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This isn’t just a collection of how-to guides. It’s a fusion of human potential and technology — designed to accelerate your personal transformation and help you innovate your craft, whatever it is.

Every guide, pattern, and tool here comes from real work — building AI systems, teaching live cohorts, and learning alongside a global community of builders. I write it in the open, update it constantly, and keep it free because knowledge compounds faster when it’s shared. And here’s the beautiful thing: I grow along with you. Curating this playbook accelerates my own learning just as much as yours.

Time is the most precious thing any of us have. By encapsulating knowledge into formats you can apply in creative, strategic ways — a pattern, a plugin, a ready-made agent — we accelerate the entire innovation cycle. Less time searching, more time building.

My Wish for You

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I hope this playbook accelerates your personal transformation and innovation. Whether you’re automating a workflow, building your first AI agent, or rethinking how your team works — I hope you find something here that saves you time, sparks an idea, or helps you move faster.

The future belongs to builders. Let’s bring it forward together.

Connect

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