# AI for Federal Grants Management Course (Self-Paced)

Canonical URL: <https://www.graduateschool.edu/courses/ai-for-federal-grants-management-course-self-paced>

## Overview

This half-day course teaches federal grants management professionals how to apply AI as a practical research and analysis tool across the grants lifecycle. Participants will learn to use AI for pre-award review, compliance monitoring, risk assessment, and closeout activities — while maintaining compliance with 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance) and safeguarding sensitive grant and recipient data. No prior AI experience is required.

## What you'll learn

- Explain AI fundamentals and responsible use principles in a federal grants management context
- Use AI to research and interpret 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance) and agency-specific grants regulations
- Apply AI tools to analyze grant applications, budgets, and financial reports for compliance and risk indicators
- Leverage AI for grants monitoring, site visit preparation, and recipient risk assessment
- Construct effective prompts for grants-specific scenarios including closeout review and audit resolution
- Verify AI-generated grants analysis against authoritative sources (2 CFR 200, agency policy, SAM.gov, GrantSolutions)
- Recognize when AI output requires review by grants officers, legal counsel, or program experts

## Curriculum

#### Module 1: AI Fundamentals for Grants Professionals

- How AI language models work and their application to grants management
- Responsible AI use with grants data and recipient information
- Protecting sensitive recipient data, proprietary information, and CUI
- Recognizing AI hallucinations in regulatory and compliance contexts

#### Module 2: AI for Pre-Award and Award Processes

- Using AI to analyze grant applications and budget narratives
- Researching regulatory requirements and eligibility criteria with AI tools
- AI-assisted risk assessment of applicants and proposed projects
- Drafting terms and conditions and award documentation with AI support

#### Module 3: AI for Post-Award Monitoring and Closeout

- Applying AI to financial and performance report analysis
- Using AI for compliance monitoring against 2 CFR 200 requirements
- Recipient risk assessment and site visit preparation with AI tools
- Grants closeout review and audit resolution with AI assistance

#### Module 4: Hands-On Workshop

- Participants apply AI tools to realistic grants management scenarios
- Practice prompt engineering for grants-specific compliance and analysis queries
- Cross-check AI outputs against 2 CFR 200 and agency grants policies
- Group exercise: Using AI to prepare a grants monitoring risk assessment

## Instructors

### Steve Pesklo — Instructor

Steve is an energetic trainer who focuses on applying technical concepts to everyday work practices. He is the founder and president of SoftLake Solutions, a company that specializes in providing data and AI applications to identify fraud for Internal Audit, Criminal Investigations, Forensic Accounting, Privacy, and Compliance.

Steve brings a large amount of experience across multiple industries and government agencies. He is an expert in implementing large data analysis projects across the world, including Inland Revenue in the UK and Argentina, New Zealand, Africa and across Europe. Previously, he was the manager of Data Architecture and Data Services for a large mortgage company. He is a frequent speaker on data analytics and project management topics and speaks fluent German. He has been teaching at the Graduate School for over 10 years.

Steve has an M.B.A. from the University of St. Thomas and a B.S. in Computer Science from California Lutheran University and the Universität Salzburg in Austria. He is certified as a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Project Management Professional (PMP), and a Certified ScrumMaster (CSM).

## Pricing

**Tuition:** $675