Three days of free artificial intelligence training kicked off Tuesday in Northwest Ohio, with Great Lakes AI Week opening at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green before continuing Wednesday in downtown Toledo and Thursday at the University of Toledo in Toledo. The event pairs hands-on workshops with credentials that cost attendees nothing.
A Two-City Schedule Built Around Free Credentials
The week opened Tuesday with the Great Lakes AI Leadership Summit at BGSU's Bowen-Thompson Student Union, 806 Ridge St. in Bowling Green, according to the EIN Presswire release announcing the event, which attributes the day's program to a BGSU President Rodney Rogers welcome and remarks from Provost Ravi Krovi. JobsOhio's Elise Meyers is also listed among speakers, with sessions covering AI governance, higher education, the AI economy and manufacturing. Wednesday shifts to AI Week Community Day at One SeaGate in downtown Toledo, which the event's own site describes as taking over the building for an afternoon of curated networking, according to Great Lakes AI Week.
Per the release, Community Day runs from noon to 5 pm, with virtual sessions from 9 am to noon, and includes AI Ready Ohio workshops, office hours, a live coding session with Toledo Codes and an ask-the-AI-builders-anything session. The week wraps Thursday with the AI for Business Summit at the University of Toledo's Lancelot Thompson Student Union, 2801 W. Bancroft St., opening with the Women in AI and Business Breakfast and featuring remarks from UT President Dr. James Holloway, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and JobsOhio's Chris Abrams. That summit covers AI applications in defense, engineering, healthcare and manufacturing, with leaders from Microsoft, IMEG, Crown Battery and UT Health among those speaking, per the release.
Free Certificates Through AI Ready Ohio
The credential engine behind the week is AI Ready Ohio, described in the release as a free statewide AI training and certification program powered by JobsOhio and the Enterprise Technology Association, and billed as America's first AI Ready State initiative. Workshop hours earned during Great Lakes AI Week count toward three certificates: AI Explorer at two credit hours, covering foundational AI literacy, prompting and responsible use; AI Empowered Professional at four hours, focused on applying AI in operations, marketing, engineering, finance and HR; and AI Empowered Leader at eight hours, aimed at AI strategy and governance for people leading adoption, according to the release. The AI Ready Ohio website confirms the same two-, four- and eight-hour thresholds and notes the program advertises more than 50 free courses overall.
AI Ready Ohio is available in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and online, per the release, which also states Ohioans have earned thousands of credentials through the program so far. The program's own site says more than 3,300 Ohioans are already on the path to building AI skills and describes itself as a workforce and economic development effort championed by JobsOhio and ETA. The release adds that the program is expected to expand next year with certifications in tool-based, role-based and industry-based applied learning, and that hours earned at the event can stack with approved online training completed afterward through aireadyohio.org, a point the University of Toledo also confirms in its own announcement of the week's programming.
Why Organizers Say the Timing Matters
Zack Huhn is listed as a keynote participant at the event. The PwC 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer reported an average 62% wage premium for AI-skilled jobs, according to PwC.
A national snapshot comes from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where a survey found 39% of employed respondents had used AI tools at work in the prior year, according to Liberty Street Economics. That same analysis found about 38% of workers said AI training mattered to them even though only 15.9% said their employer offered any, and that roughly 66% of those who had used AI tools said the tools boosted their personal productivity.
Backers, Access and Local Recognition
Great Lakes AI Week is produced by the Enterprise Technology Association, described in the release as a national leader in AI and emerging technology adoption, with BGSU and the University of Toledo as host partners. JobsOhio is the headline partner, and the release lists additional support from Huntington, The Andersons, Nexigen, Big Kitty Labs, Actual Reality Technologies, EmpoweredAI, FBT/Gibbons and SSOE.
The week includes workshops each day that attendees can join and that count toward AI Ready Ohio certificates. Registration remains open at greatlakesaiweek.com, with free community passes and student tickets available and public attendees able to save 50% using the code AIREADY, according to the release, which adds that media can attend all public sessions. The release also notes that Toledo AI Week has been proclaimed for a second consecutive year by Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz.
