The only AI-first return to paid work programme

Built by two mums with four kids under four between them.

AI has accelerated imposter syndrome in the fastest skills shift of our time. But AI can also help you prepare smarter and faster than ever before. This guided programme is designed with the best of human and AI capabilities — including a career coach accredited with the International Coaching Federation — plus a cohort for peer support, so you go back to paid work confident, AI-fluent and ready.

£169 introductory founding-cohort price · pay in 3 monthly instalments · limited to 10 places · starts Tuesday 3 November · sales close Sunday 1 November, 11.45pm

That’s under £25 a week across the seven weeks.

Book your place Tell me about future cohorts

Timing not quite right? We’ll keep in touch with future dates.

Privacy policy · Refund and cancellation

A mum with her baby preparing for her return to paid work

We get it

You have a date in the diary, or one forming. Somewhere underneath the nursery admin and the night wakings is a worry: that you'll walk back in behind, that the ground moved while you were gone, that you'll be the one person in the room who has to ask what everyone else already knows.

It doesn't have to go that way. The gap isn't the problem — going back without a plan is. This programme gives you the plan: the money, the conversations and the first weeks back, worked through before day one, so you arrive current, not behind.

Beginner friendly Learn the lingo Human judgement first

What you'll get

Seven modules, worked through week by week with your cohort.

Career coach-guided

Three virtual group coaching sessions across the seven weeks, with a career coach accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ACC level), who works with returning mums — so you're never doing this on your own.

Peer support

You'll benefit from the hive mind of mums on the cohort — sharing your AI learnings and wins in your own private WhatsApp channel inside the community, and supporting each other as you prepare for the return to paid work.

Seven weeks, built around nap times
Seven AI-chain modules to work through at your own pace, week to week
A private WhatsApp channel inside the community
Weekly voice notes to inspire your thinking and keep you on track
Three virtual group coaching sessions
A physical welcome pack

Ask your employer to pay

Most employers have a learning and development or returners budget, and £169 sits well under what a manager can sign off on their own. It's an easy yes, as long as you make it an easy ask.

Tell us where to send it and we'll give you the wording: an email you send from your own account, and a one-page summary your manager can forward to finance. Sales close Sunday 1 November and approvals can take a few days, so ask now.

Ask my employer to pay Download the PDF

Employer-funded work-related training is exempt from income tax and National Insurance. We can invoice your employer or take a company card.

A mum working on a laptop, preparing to ask her employer to fund the programme

The modules

What you'll work through together, week by week.

1

The Confidence Audit

Tests the five beliefs that come up most, then turns what you already know how to do into a written record — your Return File — that you carry through the rest of the programme.
2

Money: what you're owed, and what comes next

A way of seeing the shape of your own numbers: what you're owed, what childcare really costs, your pension gap and a way to build your rebuild plan — built on UK specifics like salary sacrifice, the £100,000 cliff and funded-hours timing that generic advice misses.
3

The Partner Conversation

Seven questions to work through together: the sick-day protocol, the mental-load ledger, and childcare as a household cost rather than yours.
4

Last KIT days

How to give a KIT day a job rather than just showing your face, and what to find out while you're in the building.
5

Industry Catch-Up

What has genuinely changed in your field while you've been out, what's noise, and how to learn new concepts — including AI tools — in the context of your actual role.
6

The Manager Conversation and your workplace's AI policy

Opening the conversation with your manager, presenting AI-augmented work as judgement rather than a shortcut (the bias this programme was built around), and finding out where your employer actually stands on AI in your first fortnight back.
7

The 30/60/90 plan

A re-entry plan to help you prioritise, set boundaries and do more with AI — with an audit of which tools actually earn their place in your week.

Group coaching sessions, 9.30am to 10.30am UK time, online: Tuesday 3 November (opening and the Confidence Audit), Tuesday 24 November (midway check-in) and Tuesday 15 December (final session).

Behind the programme

Katie Rose

Founder, AI on Maternity Leave

Katie is a second-time mum and a marketing leader who dreamt up this programme on her own maternity leave — building the AI-first return she hopes will help her, and others like her, feel more confident integrating new technology into their roles.

She founded AI on Maternity Leave to help mums go back to paid work confident and AI-fluent — but also to interrogate the bigger questions: ethics, keeping children safe, protecting the planet, and making sure women are integral to building new systems, not just the tech bros.

Fayrouz Essack

Your coach

Fayrouz is a mum of two who's been coaching senior leaders, working parents and rising talent inside and outside of the UK Civil Service since 2020 — including leading government programmes supporting mums returning to paid work. She has a degree in Personal and Business Coaching from the University of Chester and is accredited with the International Coaching Federation at ACC level.

She's also coached Katie, which has been the beginning of a beautiful — and supportive — friendship and partnership. She can't wait to work with you on the AI on Maternity Leave programme.

What "founding cohort" means

You're first, and you're shaping it. This is the first time we've run the programme, so you get the founding-cohort price — an introductory discount for this pilot — in exchange for helping us make it brilliant for everyone who comes after you.

Part of the deal is three short surveys: at the start, at the end, and four weeks after the programme finishes. They're how we measure what actually moved. Informal feedback along the way is always welcome.

Our event attendees say

I came away feeling reassured, inspired and excited to have spent the morning learning something new — such a supportive and friendly environment.

Pilot attendee

Everyone is friendly and the event itself sparks honest and open conversation where no question is a silly question.

Attendee, August 2026

Programme FAQs

When does the cohort start?

Tuesday 3 November 2026. It runs for seven weeks, with live sessions from 9.30am to 10.30am on 3 November, 24 November and 15 December. Sales close at 11.45pm on Sunday 1 November. Everyone starts together, so we can't take bookings after that. If these dates don't work, register for the next cohort.

When is the best time to take advantage?

It's designed for women returning to paid work in December or January, so you finish the modules and coaching just before your first day. Back earlier or later? Email hello@aionmaternityleave.com with your return date and we'll tell you honestly whether these dates work for you.

What if I'm already using AI?

Then you're ahead on the tools — and this programme is about the return, not just the tech. The Manager Conversation, the Money module and the Return File matter just as much whether AI is new to you or already part of your day. You'll still find tools and prompts you haven't met, in the context of your actual role.

How much time does it take each week?

It's built for nap times and one-handed evenings. Plan for a couple of hours a week across the seven weeks, plus three live group coaching sessions. You'll move through the modules week by week with the cohort.

What if my return date moves?

That's normal, and it's fine. The programme content is yours to keep, so you can work through it on your own timeline. The three live coaching sessions run on the cohort's dates, but everything else flexes around you.

Can I expense it?

Often, yes. Most employers have a learning and development or returners budget, and £169 is usually a manager's own decision rather than an HR one. We'll give you the wording and a one-pager to forward. Ask your employer to pay →

What if I can't make the live sessions?

The three group coaching sessions are the one live element. If you miss one, we'll share what we can so you're not left behind, and the modules themselves are always available in the programme hub in your own time.

What's your refund and cancellation policy?

The programme runs with a minimum of four people. If we haven't reached four when sales close at 11.45pm on Sunday 1 November, we'll tell you by Monday 2 November and refund you in full. Our full refund and cancellation policy can be read here.

Buying for someone else, or for a team?

If you're an employer paying for one returner's place, the price is the same as it is for her. If you want the programme run as a closed cohort for your own returners — scheduled around their return dates, with a briefing for the managers receiving them back and an anonymised report on the confidence shift across the group — that's a commissioned piece of work and is priced by scope. Email hello@aionmaternityleave.com for more detail.

A woman taking handwritten notes beside her laptop, planning her prompts

Ready to go back current, not behind?

Ten places. Starts Tuesday 3 November, sales close Sunday 1 November at 11.45pm.