The Challenge: Finding a Training Partner Who Could Truly Customise
Marriott recognised that Generative AI was rapidly reshaping how businesses operate, and they wanted their team to be ahead of the curve. But finding the right training partner proved harder than expected.
Generic, off-the-shelf AI courses were easy to find. What Marriott needed was something different: a programme that could be meaningfully tailored to their context, their workflows, and the day-to-day realities of working in a large hospitality organisation. They needed a partner with both the technical depth to teach AI effectively, and the flexibility to customise content that would genuinely resonate with their team.
Why Heicoders Academy: Customisation Backed by Real-World Expertise
Heicoders Academy stood out because of one key differentiator: our instructors are active practitioners in the tech industry, not just educators. This means they bring current, hands-on experience into the classroom, and crucially, they have the industry fluency needed to tailor a programme around a client's specific context.
When Marriott shared their requirements, Heicoders Academy worked closely with them to co-develop a curriculum that went beyond generic AI literacy. The result was a workshop that spoke directly to Marriott's team, grounded in realistic use cases and structured for a diverse, non-technical audience.
The Solution: A Customised One-Day Generative AI Workshop
Heicoders Academy designed and delivered a one-day intensive workshop for 40–50 of Marriott's staff. The curriculum was built around two core pillars:
- Prompt Engineering: Participants learned how to communicate effectively with large language models, crafting clear, structured prompts and iterating on outputs to get results that are genuinely useful in a professional setting.
- AI Agents in Action: The workshop introduced participants to the frontier of AI automation, including hands-on exposure to AI Agents like Manus AI, and how these tools can be used to research, summarise, and automate tasks.
Throughout the day, the focus was on practical application, helping participants see not just what AI can do, but how they could begin incorporating it into their own roles.
To lead the workshop, Heicoders Academy assigned Chan Yu Siang, our Chief Academic Officer, who brought the right blend of technical expertise and communication style to engage a broad audience, from entry-level staff to senior managers — keeping energy levels high and the learning accessible.
Results: A Team That Left Confident, Curious, and Ready
The response from Marriott's team was overwhelmingly positive. Participants came away with a clear understanding of how to use Generative AI tools effectively — and, just as importantly, the confidence to start experimenting on their own.
The customised approach made all the difference. Because the content was grounded in contexts familiar to the team, the learning felt immediately applicable rather than abstract. Marriott's stakeholders noted that the workshop had exceeded their expectations, both in terms of content quality and the instructor's ability to connect with the room.
"What stood out was how relevant everything felt. It wasn't just theory. We left with tools and techniques we could actually use."
What's Next: Going Deeper with Advanced AI
The success of this workshop has sparked appetite for more. Heicoders Academy is currently in active discussions with Marriott to develop a series of more advanced, customised workshops, building on the foundation laid in the inaugural session and taking the team further into applied AI capabilities. We look forward to continuing this partnership as Marriott's AI journey evolves.
