Your people are asking: will AI replace me?
Give them a better answer.
Build AI-ready thinking across your organisation by certifying your own in-house HiCortex Trainers.
Chris Griffiths, a leading authority on how human and artificial intelligence think best together.
AI will not replace your people. People who think better with AI will.
Future-proof yoursYou have rolled out the AI tools.
Has the thinking changed?
Most organisations have given their people AI. Very few have shown them how to think with it.
The result is familiar. Some people are anxious that AI will replace them. Some use it for everything and stop thinking for themselves. Output gets faster, but not always better. Decisions get taken on AI-generated answers nobody challenged. And the people who think differently can feel left behind by text-heavy, one-prompt-at-a-time tools.
This is not about better prompts. It is about metacognition: thinking about how you think. HiCortex Thinking gives your people a shared way to do it, and gives you the Trainers to spread it.
AI changes the work.
Your people decide the outcome.
AI draws on what already exists, so it tends towards the average. Organisations that win will be the ones whose people can challenge it, direct it and add what it cannot.
What HR is seeing
- Staff worried about their future
- AI tools adopted, but little change in how people think
- Faster output that still needs reworking
- Decisions taken on AI answers nobody challenged
- Some minds left behind by linear tools
What HiCortex Thinking builds
- Confidence in the value people bring
- Skill in orchestrating AI, not just using it
- Productivity, not just speed
- Rigorous challenge of AI output before it is acted on
- Visual, inclusive ways of working for every mind
What is HiCortex Thinking?
A human-led method for thinking, deciding and creating with AI. The Hi stands for Human Intelligence. The cortex is where judgement lives.
Think of it as joining the dots
AI gives you dots. Lots of them. It can even join them for you. But your people's knowledge, experience and context add what AI cannot see.
- Too few dots. You get a picture, but an average one.
- Too many dots. With AI you can draw anything. It overwhelms and helps no one.
- The right dots. Human judgement chooses what matters and draws the right answer.
HiCortex Thinking is a system and a process that can be easily implemented. Thinking about your thinking. Orchestrating AI. Out-thinking the machine. It is how your organisation stays ahead.
Five things that set it apart
- A process anyone can learn. Clear stages and practical tools. No technical background needed.
- Orchestrate AI. Know what to hand to AI, what to keep, and how to bring its output back into human judgement.
- A shared language. Teams say "let's do some HiCortex thinking on this" and everyone knows what happens next.
- Inclusive by design. Visual and non-linear, built for every kind of thinker, including neurodivergent minds.
- Backed by software. Ayoa for visual thinking and productivity, and RedBoard, the app that puts AI output on trial. Both come with your Trainers. See what's included.
Ayoa: TechRadar #1 Best Mind Map Software 2025. Biggerplate Best for Neuro-Inclusivity 2026.
Confidence in what they bring that AI cannot. A clear way to stay ahead, not be replaced.
A shared language and a visual way of working that brings every mind in and makes better decisions.
Capability that is built in-house, owned in-house, and grows with every session your Trainers run.
Certify your Trainers.
Build the capability in-house.
You do not need to send your whole workforce on a course. Send your champions. They come back certified to train everyone else.
Choose your champions
L&D specialists, internal coaches, team leaders or change leads.
Four days of certification
At one of our open cohorts, or a private cohort at Tec Marina.
Back at work
They run HiCortex sessions with colleagues using ready-made plans and tools.
Capability spreads
Colleagues they train become Certified HiCortex Practitioners.
Practitioners use HiCortex Thinking in their work but cannot certify others. That keeps quality under your Trainers' control.
The software comes with it
Ayoa + RedBoard
Each certified Trainer gets both platforms, white-labelled to them, for as long as they stay certified.
Up to 100 seats of Ayoa and RedBoard for the colleagues each Trainer works with, free for a year. Around £24,000 of software at list price.
Session plans and materials
Tested workshop designs, so internal delivery can start straight away.
Staying certified
Each Trainer's certification and software licences renew for £500 plus tax a year, including the annual online refresher. No other fees back to us.
RedBoard
RedBoard puts AI-generated ideas, plans and strategies on trial. It exposes the assumptions, bias and evidence gaps before you commit time or money.
Four days. Sixteen sessions.
Real workplace challenges.
Each day mixes short teaching, live practice and peer coaching. Delegates practise every tool on real work challenges, and learn how to teach each one back in your organisation.
Day 1: Human vs AI creativity
Why the way we learned to think works against original ideas, and why AI makes it worse. Solve a real problem with AI, then with human creative thinking, and compare the two.
The GRASP thinking modes and why metacognition is the core skill of the AI era.
Break the linear, one-prompt-at-a-time AI habit. Visual thinking strategies for better AI output.
Generating ideas AI would not suggest. Outthink the machine. Stay unique even with AI.
Day 2: RedBoard Strategy. Challenge everything, including AI
Three thinking errors (selective, reactive, assumptive), and how generic AI scales them up.
Surface, strip and reverse the assumptions behind a strategy, a brief or an AI answer.
The red and green rules, and the five lenses for reframing any problem before time and money are spent on it.
Put an AI-generated idea on trial in the RedBoard app: assumptions, evidence gaps, bias flags, blind spots and the strongest counter-view.
By the end of day 2 your Trainers can generate ideas AI would not, and put any AI answer on trial before anyone acts on it.
Day 3: Judgement and decision making
The Define and Understand and Changing Perspectives tools. Choosing the dots that matter.
The Reasoning Checklist: look for evidence that disproves you, spot bias blind spots, and check AI claims properly.
Force Field Evaluation and Heart Head Pros and Cons, mapped in Ayoa.
The more voices you involve, the easier it is to turn a choice into commitment.
Day 4: Human AI maximisation
What to hand to AI, what to keep, and how to improve productivity, not just speed.
How inclusive and neurodivergent teams work well with AI, and how visual tools bring every mind in.
Live facilitation using modern mind mapping, Ayoa and RedBoard, with teach-back practice and peer feedback.
Planning the internal roll-out, setting up white-labelled tools, certifying colleagues as Practitioners and gathering feedback.
How your Trainers are certified
No exam. Certification is confirmed once a Trainer has delivered a minimum of 10 hours of HiCortex sessions within six months of the course and submitted feedback from the colleagues they worked with.
What they bring back
A method practised on your real challenges, session plans they can run next week, branded tools set up for your team, and a clear route to certifying colleagues.
Everyone has AI now. HiCortex Thinking is how you stand out.
When every competitor has the same tools, the difference is the thinking behind them. Here is why HR leaders are investing in it.
| Your priority | The risk today | What HiCortex Thinking delivers |
|---|---|---|
| Workforce confidence | People fear AI will replace them, and morale suffers. | A clear, positive path. People learn exactly what they bring that AI cannot. |
| Return on AI investment | Tools are adopted but thinking stays the same. | People learn to orchestrate AI, challenge its output and decide well. |
| Decision quality | Plans built on AI answers nobody questioned. | RedBoard Strategy makes rigorous challenge a habit. |
| Scalable development | External training costs that grow with headcount. | Certify the trainer. Your Trainers certify colleagues in-house. One renewal a year, no per-head fees. |
| Inclusion | Linear, text-heavy tools leave some minds behind. | Visual, non-linear methods built for every kind of mind. |
| Evidence of impact | Training that is hard to measure. | Feedback from every session, and certified Practitioners verifiable on HiCortex.com. |
The organisations that thrive will be those whose people think about their thinking, orchestrate AI, and outthink the machine.
Your competitors can buy the same AI tomorrow. They cannot buy the way your people think.
Send one champion, or bring your own cohort.
Open cohorts
Send one or more people to a scheduled HiCortex Thinking certification alongside professionals from other organisations.
- Ideal for starting with one or two champions
- Cross-industry ideas and networking
- Founding cohorts through 2027 in London, Amsterdam, Dubai and Singapore
Four days, in person. Plus VAT or local taxes, where applicable. Register your interest for first access to dates.
Register interestPrivate cohort at Tec Marina
Your own private certification for 4 to 10 people, held at the OpenGenius headquarters at Tec Marina, Wales.
- Only your people in the room
- Work on your organisation's real challenges in confidence
- Dates arranged around your calendar
- Builds an internal team of Certified HiCortex Trainers in one go
Four days, in person. Contact us for private cohort pricing and dates.
Enquire about a private cohortWho to send
Created by Chris Griffiths and OpenGenius
HiCortex Thinking is created by Chris Griffiths, founder of the OpenGenius Academy, who has spent more than 20 years building thinking tools and methods used by organisations around the world.
languages his books are published in
tech products, each with over 1 million users
bestseller (Business, overall) on Amazon at launch for GRASP the Solution
coaches in the training network he built with Tony Buzan, inventor of the mind map
Trusted at the highest level
European Commission · Pfizer · Stanford University · NHS · London Stock Exchange · Shenzhen Stock Exchange · Scottish Parliament · Welsh Government · Revolut · European Parliament
Keynotes and workshops for several FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies.
- Two decades of thinking tools. Chris co-created iMindMap with Tony Buzan in 2006, which has since evolved into Ayoa. Led a Deloitte Technology Fast 50 company.
- Bestselling author. GRASP the Solution, The Creative Thinking Handbook (chosen by Forbes as one of the best books on creativity), Mind Maps for Business with Tony Buzan, and The Focus Fix. Published by Kogan Page, BBC Active and Pearson.
- Seen and heard. Facilitator for more than 40 Nobel Laureates at the Petra Nobel Conference. Featured on BBC News and in Forbes, Harvard Business Review, GQ and The Telegraph.
- Taught at universities. The Creative Thinking Handbook is prescribed reading at universities including the University of Economics and Law, Ho Chi Minh City, and Sharda University, India, and is used on courses in Morocco, Australia and the United States.
"A must-read for anyone undertaking a new project or transformation."
Elite Business Magazine, on The Creative Thinking HandbookYour trainers
Every cohort is led by a HiCortex Master Trainer, working directly with Chris.
About OpenGenius
Future-proof your people. Starting now.
Tell us about your organisation and what you want to achieve with AI. We will recommend the right route, whether that is one champion at an open cohort or a private cohort at Tec Marina.
Four days, in person. Founding cohorts through 2027 in Cardiff, Amsterdam, Dubai and Singapore.
Renewal: £500 plus tax a year per Trainer, including the annual online refresher.
On dates that suit you. Pricing on request.
Work on your own challenges, in confidence, with only your people in the room.
Up to 100 seats of Ayoa and RedBoard for your team, free for a year.
Plus a certified Trainer who can build the capability in-house, for as long as you need it.
AI will not replace your people. People who think better with AI will. Future-proof yours.