Frequently asked questions.
Honest, direct answers. Can't find what you're looking for? Email info@proven-path-academy.com — we reply within one working day.
Booking & payment
How do I book a seat?
Pick the course on the home page or the course page and click "Book your seat". You'll be taken to a secure Paystack checkout where you pay by card. The whole thing takes about 60 seconds. You get an instant receipt by email, and a Confirmation Pack PDF download on the thank-you page.
What payment methods do you accept?
All major South African and international credit and debit cards via Paystack — Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and instant EFT for SA banks. Card details are handled by Paystack; we never see or store your card number.
Do prices include VAT?
Yes. All prices on the site are TTC (toutes taxes comprises) — VAT-inclusive at the current 15% rate. A tax invoice is available on request — email your VAT number and company billing address to info@proven-path-academy.com after you book.
Can I pay by EFT instead of card?
For individual bookings, Paystack card or instant-EFT is the only option. For corporate or in-house bookings (4+ seats from one company), we can issue an invoice and accept EFT — contact us for a quote.
Can I get a refund if I can't attend?
Bookings are final and non-refundable, except where a refund is required under applicable law. However, you can transfer your seat to a future session of the same course (free if you give 15 or more calendar days' notice) or send a substitute in your place (free up to 7 days before the session). Full details in our Refund Policy.
Can I send a colleague instead of attending myself?
Yes. Email the substitute's full name and email to info@proven-path-academy.com at least 7 days before the session. The substitute must be at the same skill level as the original delegate — for AI at Scale specifically, they must meet the prerequisite (AI at Work attendance or equivalent).
What if PPA cancels or postpones the session?
If we cancel or postpone a session for any reason — low enrolment, trainer illness, venue unavailability or force majeure — you can choose: a 100% refund (processed within 5 business days), a free transfer to a future session of the same course, or a credit toward a different PPA course of equal or lesser value (valid for 12 months). Full details in our Refund Policy.
Format & logistics
Are courses in-person or online?
In-person only. The room is the product — small cohorts, real conversations, hands-on exercises, peer learning. We don't offer regular remote attendance. We do run one or two "exceptional remote" broadcast events per year for people who cannot travel — those are announced separately on the website.
Where do the courses run?
Workshop 17 inside the Watershed Building at the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town. Reception will direct you to the PPA room on the day. Parking at the V&A Clock Tower or Aquarium garages, both within 5 minutes' walk. The closest MyCiTi stop is Waterfront Silo, also 2 minutes away.
What's the daily schedule?
All courses run 09:00 to 15:00 (08:45 arrival). Coffee, tea, water and a mid-morning snack are provided. Lunch is BYO during a 45-minute break — plenty of cafés inside the V&A Waterfront if you don't bring something. AI at Scale runs two consecutive days; AI at Work and AI at the Top are one day each.
How many people in a cohort?
Maximum 16. We've found this is the sweet spot between intimate (everyone gets answered) and economic (we can sustain the course economically). It's a working room, not a lecture theatre.
What should I bring?
Your own laptop, fully charged, ideally without aggressive work-VPN or browser restrictions. A power cable (we have sockets but not cables). Your AI tool logins ready (free-tier accounts for AI at Work; one licensed AI product for AI at Scale). A real workplace task you want to speed up — that's what you'll work on during the exercises.
What if I'm running late on the day?
Email or WhatsApp Geoff (his number is in your Confirmation Pack). Doors stay open during the first 15 minutes; after that we ask you to wait until the coffee break to join. The first hour is the foundation for everything that follows — we can't repeat it for a late arrival.
Content & level
Do I need any prior AI experience?
For AI at Work: no — it's the beginner course. If you can use a browser and switch between tabs, you're ready. For AI at Scale: you should have done AI at Work or be equivalently fluent with prompting. For AI at the Top: no AI experience needed; this is a leadership course about decisions, governance and OKRs, not about using the tools yourself.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. None of our courses require coding. Even AI at Scale, which builds production-grade agents and workflows, uses no-code patterns and the visual builders inside Claude, Copilot, Gemini, Notion and NotebookLM.
Which AI tools do you use?
AI at Work works across five free-tier tools: Microsoft Copilot, Anthropic Claude, Google NotebookLM, Google Gemini and Notion AI. AI at Scale and AI at the Top use the same five but at the licensed-tier level — bring at least one product login. The trainer demoes everything in Claude as a fallback if your tool stalls.
Will I get a certificate?
Yes — a Proven Path Academy certificate of completion is issued to every delegate who attends the full session and passes the end-of-day knowledge check (7 of 10 multiple-choice questions, or the published pass mark for the course). The certificate is verifiable via the unique code on it.
What if I fail the knowledge check?
You can re-take it once, free of charge, within 30 days — typically via a 30-minute online retake session arranged with Geoff. If you don't pass on the retake, we can refer you back to the relevant theory section of the course and offer a discounted seat on the next cohort.
Are the course materials mine to keep?
Yes — your workbook, reference card and 30-day plan are yours to keep, for your personal and internal-business use. They are © LCSI Pty Ltd, licensed to you under our Terms & Conditions. You may not redistribute, resell, or use them to train a competing programme.
Corporate, in-house & private
Do you offer in-house training at our office?
Yes — for groups of 8 or more from the same organisation, we run the same curriculum at your office (or at a private venue you book). The case study can optionally be swapped for your actual context. Travel charged separately if outside Cape Town. Email info@proven-path-academy.com for a quote.
Do you offer a group discount?
Yes. For 4 or more seats booked together from the same company, we offer a 15% discount via the code CORPORATE4PLUS. Email us first so we can confirm and issue the booking. For 8+ seats, in-house pricing is usually more cost-effective.
Can the course content be customised?
For public cohorts, no — the curriculum is fixed so we can guarantee what each course delivers. For in-house bookings, yes — we can swap the running case for your actual business, weight the exercises to your priorities, and run a pre-day call with your team lead to tune the day. The full curriculum frame stays the same.
Privacy & data
What personal data do you collect?
The minimum — your name and email (collected by Paystack at checkout), plus any tax-invoice details you ask us to add. We do not use third-party analytics or advertising trackers on our website. Full details in our Privacy Policy.
Is the training POPIA-aware?
Yes. We treat your data per the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA). Course content also covers POPIA-aware prompting — what to put into an AI tool, what to keep out, and how to talk to your IT/InfoSec team about AI use at work.
About PPA
Who runs Proven Path Academy?
Geoffroy ("Geoff") Lousse is the founder and lead trainer. PPA is a trading name of LCSI Pty Ltd, a private company registered in the Republic of South Africa.
Who teaches the courses?
Geoff teaches all public-cohort sessions personally. For in-house and high-volume bookings we may bring in a verified co-trainer trained on the PPA curriculum — always announced in advance.
Why "in-person only"?
Because the room is the product. Sixteen people, hands-on, peer-cohort, real conversations — none of that travels to Zoom intact. The online AI-training market is already vast and cheap. We do the opposite: a small, intimate, high-quality day where you actually walk out different. We make one or two exceptions per year for broadcast events; otherwise it's Cape Town in-person.
Last updated: May 2026. If you can't find your question here, email info@proven-path-academy.com.