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Harvard Online
Harvard Online · delivered by SkillsPro360

Certificate in
Agentic AI Foundations

Move from generative AI to agentic AI — systems that plan, act and use tools with human oversight.
  • What you study: How large language models power AI agents, how agents use reasoning, planning, task decomposition and tool use, where they create value in business, and the risks — hallucinations, bias, prompt injection and data exposure — that responsible use must manage.
  • Who it is for: Professionals and managers who want to lead confidently as AI shifts from tools that answer prompts to systems that plan and act.
  • Also included: Three months of Voca — AI-powered practice for interviews, presentations and CV review.
Course fee
USD 595
Single course enrollment
Duration
4 weeks
2–3 hrs/week
Certificate of Completion fromHarvard Online
Duration
4 weeks
Five topics
Effort
2–3 hrs/week
Self-paced within deadlines
Format
Cohort-based online
New cohorts start regularly
Prerequisites
None
No coding required
Credential
Harvard Online
Certificate of Completion
How you learn

Study with a global cohort.

Work through the Harvard Online course on your own schedule within weekly deadlines, alongside professionals from around the world, with three months of Voca practice to apply what you learn.

AI agents supporting business work
What you receive

Earn a Certificate of Completion from Harvard Online.

Complete the course and Harvard Online issues your Certificate of Completion.

✓

Designed and taught by Harvard faculty

Curriculum developed and delivered by Harvard faculty led by Professor Hanspeter Pfister of the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

✓

A credential you can verify and share

Issued in your legal name as a Certified Electronic Credential you can add to your resume and LinkedIn profile.

✓

Counts toward an Executive Program

Stack this course with others to earn a Certificate of Specialization from Harvard Online.

Sample Harvard Online Certificate of Completion
Sample certificate issued by Harvard Online. Certificate design subject to change by Harvard Online.
Course syllabus

What you study.

Five topics, built around real cases and hands-on exercises, prompting you to think critically about applying agentic AI in your own workplace.

Topics covered
  1. Introduction — the consequential shift from generative AI to agentic AI, the components of an agentic system, and a first look at your own AI use. Exercise: generate multi-modal outputs with NotebookLM
  2. The Machine That Can — how large language models work, why their outputs vary, the training lifecycle, and how context shapes predictions. Case: VoiceRun — voice agents
  3. Agentic AI — task decomposition and planning, how multi-agent systems use orchestrator agents, and scoring your own workplace tasks for automation. Case: agentic AI and multi-agent systems
  4. Challenges and Risks of Agentic AI — the “Lethal Trifecta,” brittleness, prompt injection, bias, and designing guardrails for a proposed agentic system. Cases: bias in AI; a blackmailing agent
  5. Co-Intelligence — a partnership where AI executes and humans direct and validate, and the shift from technical execution to strategic orchestration. Focus: critical thinking
Learning outcomes

Understand agentic AI and how AI agents work

  • Distinguish between generative AI and agentic AI, and how large language models serve as the foundation for AI agents
  • Identify core components of agentic systems — reasoning, planning, task decomposition and tool use

Evaluate how agentic AI can be applied in business

  • Identify tasks and workflows where AI agents create value and support productivity, decision-making or coordination
  • Determine where human judgment, creativity, ethical reasoning and final validation should remain central

Communicate the risks, limits and governance needs of agentic AI

  • Recognize risks such as hallucinations, bias, unreliable outputs, data exposure and misuse
  • Describe strategies for mitigating risk through oversight, governance, testing and human-in-the-loop design
Format: self-paced within cohort deadlinesAssessment: topics with quizzes

Syllabus topics are set by Harvard Online and may be revised between cohorts.

Who it is for

Built for professionals who will lead with AI, not build it.

This course is designed for professionals and managers who want to understand agentic AI, spot where it creates value, and keep human judgment central as AI takes on more of the work.

No programming or technical background required. Taught in English; participants should be 18 or over.

At work

Decide where AI agents belong in your team’s work.

Most teams are being asked to “use agents” before anyone has agreed what an agent should do. This course gives you the language and judgment to lead that conversation.

Who teaches you

Learn from Harvard faculty.

Your coursework is designed and delivered by Harvard faculty, led by Professor Hanspeter Pfister, with additional faculty bringing expertise on bias and on human judgment.

Hanspeter Pfister

Hanspeter Pfister

An Wang Professor of Computer Science, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

The lead instructor for the course. Professor Pfister’s research spans visualization, computer graphics and machine learning. Before Harvard he spent over a decade at Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, where he was chief architect of the award-winning VolumePro real-time rendering hardware.

Mahzarin Banaji

Mahzarin Banaji

Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics, Department of Psychology, Harvard University

An experimental psychologist who co-developed the concept of “implicit bias” and co-authored the best-selling book Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People. Her work informs the course’s treatment of bias in AI systems.

Edward J. Hall

Edward J. Hall

Norman E. Vuilleumier Professor of Philosophy, Harvard University

Professor Hall works on topics in metaphysics and epistemology that overlap with the philosophy of science, bringing a rigorous lens to questions of reasoning, evidence and human judgment in an AI-augmented world.

Executive Program in Data & AI for Business

Three Harvard Online modules on data, business decisions and privacy — with live sessions, app access and Voca practice.

★
A related Executive Program
This course sits alongside our Executive Program in Data & AI for Business — three Harvard Online modules that add 36 hours of live sessions with industry experts, twelve months of app access and Voca practice, earning a Certificate of Specialization from Harvard Online.
Three Harvard Online modules
On data, business decisions and privacy
36 hours of live sessions
Fortnightly, with industry experts
App access and Voca practice
Included throughout
View the Executive Program
Course fee

What is included.

One fee covering the full Harvard Online course, your Certificate of Completion, and three months of Voca practice access.

USD595
per participant · complete course
  • The complete Harvard Online course, all five topics
  • Certificate of Completion from Harvard Online
  • A Certified Electronic Credential for LinkedIn
  • Three months of Voca — AI-powered practice for interviews, presentations and CV review
  • Cohort-based study with a global peer group
  • Advisor support from enrollment to completion
Reserve your seat

Enrolling a team?

Organizations are invoiced directly, and multi-seat rates apply from ten participants.
Fees are quoted in US dollars and paid by international card or bank transfer; your bank applies its own conversion rate. We can also provide a scope document for employer-funded participants.
Request a proposal
Enrollment

From inquiry to first day.

Four steps, usually completed within a week.

Step one

Book a call

A twenty-minute conversation with an advisor to check the course fits your role and goals. No obligation.

Step two

Choose your cohort

We confirm the upcoming start dates that suit your schedule.

Step three

Reserve your seat

Confirm your place, then complete payment by international card or bank transfer.

Step four

Begin

We enroll you directly with Harvard Online. Your access details arrive by email before your start date.

Common questions

Everything you might be wondering.

Do I need a technical or coding background?

No. The course is designed for professionals from any background. It teaches the concepts, judgment and risks behind agentic AI, not how to build agents yourself.

What will I study in Agentic AI Foundations?

Five topics, built around real cases and hands-on exercises: the shift from generative AI to agentic AI; how large language models work; agentic AI and multi-agent systems; the challenges and risks of agentic AI; and co-intelligence between people and AI.

How much time will it take?

The course runs four weeks at roughly two to three hours a week, completed on your own schedule within weekly deadlines.

What does it cost?

USD 595 for the complete course, covering the full Harvard Online course, your Certificate of Completion and three months of Voca practice access.

What is Voca, and how do I use it?

Voca is SkillsPro360's AI-powered practice tool. You can rehearse a presentation, run a mock interview, or have your CV reviewed — privately, on demand, as many times as you like. Three months of access are included with this course, and your advisor will help you time it for when it is most useful.

Who awards the certificate?

Harvard Online. On successful completion you receive a Certificate of Completion issued directly by Harvard Online. SkillsPro360 is an authorized delivery partner — we are not Harvard University.

Does this course count toward an Executive Program?

Yes. It is one of the five courses in our Executive Program in AI Leadership, which is coming soon. Speak to an advisor so we can plan the route with you.

Lead with agentic AI. Prove it with Harvard Online.

Reserve your seat in the next cohort, or book a call to check the course fits your role.

Reserve your seat