Claude Cowork 101
A Workshop for Business Users

 

This course will take place on Thursday October 29th

Session runs from 9:00 am – 12:30 pm PT / 12:00 pm - 3:30 pm ET and will be recorded.

 

Claude Cowork is Anthropic’s agentic desktop app for people who do not write code. It drafts and edits documents, builds spreadsheets and slide decks, searches the web, and completes multi-step tasks with light supervision. In this three-and-a-half-hour workshop, Donald Farmer will introduce Cowork to new users and show how to get dependable work from it. 

Donald will demonstrate Cowork live throughout the session. You will watch it draft a document, gather and summarize research, analyze a data set, and build a reusable workflow that runs again on new material. After each demonstration, Donald will explain how he framed the task; he will show what he stated, what he left to the agent, and how he checked the output. 

You will leave knowing what Cowork does well, what it cannot do reliably, and how to apply it to your own everyday tasks. 

You Will Learn:

  • What Claude Cowork is, and how it differs from the Claude chat interface 

  • How Cowork reads, drafts, and edits documents, spreadsheets, and presentations 

  • How Cowork uses the browser to gather and check information 

  • How to frame a task so that Cowork returns useful work on the first attempt 

  • How to direct Cowork through research, data analysis, and drafting jobs 

  • How to build reusable workflows that you and your colleagues can run repeatedly 

  • How Cowork can fail, and how to review its output before you rely on it 

Geared To:

  • Business analysts and data analysts 

  • Managers and team leads who produce reports, plans, and presentations 

  • Consultants and advisors who prepare client deliverables 

  • Operations, finance, and marketing professionals who work daily in documents and spreadsheets 

  • Data and analytics leaders evaluating agentic AI for their teams 

Prerequisites:

None. The workshop assumes no programming knowledge and no prior experience with Claude. 

Laptop Setup:

You do not need a laptop for this course. Donald demonstrates everything live; you can follow the whole session without a device. 

If you would like to try Cowork alongside the demonstrations, you are welcome to do so. Following along is informal and not part of the formal course; the demonstrations do not depend on it. 

System and Software Requirements (only if you follow along): 

A Windows PC or Mac with: 

  • The current Claude Desktop app installed and signed in 
  • A paid Claude plan (Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise) 
  • A reliable internet connection 

Note on Corporate Laptops: 

Following along requires installing the Claude Desktop app and signing in to a Claude account. If your corporate laptop prevents you from installing software, or if Anthropic Claude is not authorized in your organization, use a personal device instead.