APS Virtual ProgrammeEarly access for firms

Anyone can generate an answer. APS tells you whether it's right.

For 35 years, Analytical Problem-Solving has taught professionals to structure problems and test their thinking. Now every person in your firm can work it through with a coach that asks the questions a facilitator would.

Book a walkthrough for your firm Watch the coach review an answer

AI draft to a client Coach review

Client asksWhy did our margin fall three points, and what should we do?

Margin fell because input costs rose. We recommend renegotiating supplier contracts now, which should win back most of the lost margin within two quarters.

Coach

Three claims in this draft sound confident. Select each one and see what the coach asks.

Structure the problem

How many of the three points are cost? Price, mix and volume all move margin. Split it before you name a cause.

Test the hypothesis

This only holds if cost is the main driver. State that as a hypothesis, then say what would prove it wrong.

Back the recommendation

Where do “most” and “two quarters” come from? The client will ask. What is your evidence?

Three claims tested

The draft may still be right. Now you can show why.

AI draft, untested

35 years
teaching Analytical Problem-Solving, live
15,771+
APS alumni*
2,000+
people trained at a single client
13 years
supporting BIP Consulting Group's new leaders

*Openside data available since 2010

The gap

Clients pay for judgement. Most firms promote for expertise.

Law firms, accountancies, engineering and technical consultancies hire brilliant specialists and promote them on what they know. Then they are asked to advise: to scope a messy problem, ask the right questions and build a recommendation a client will act on.

AI has made that harder. It is taking away the junior work people used to learn judgement on. And most of the AI training sold into firms teaches people to use the tools, not to think with them.

Consistency: One way of structuring problems across every team, office and grade.
Less risk: Answers are questioned before they reach a client, whoever or whatever wrote them.
Rigour on demand: A facilitator's questions, without clearing diaries or booking a room.

Where APS comes from

We have solved this shift once already.

Openside came out of Booz Allen to help IBM move from selling products to selling advice. Thirty-five years on, your specialists are making the same move. The method has held. It now comes with a coach.

Then · IBM

A products company learning to sell advice.

The start of Openside, and of APS.

Now · Your firm

Specialists learning to give advice, not only answers.

The same shift, with AI now writing the first draft.

How it works

Your people think first. Then the coach checks.

The most durable results come from structured attempt-then-check loops, not from handing people AI tools. That loop is what APS is built around.

1Attempt

They work the problem themselves. Structure it, form a hypothesis, draft the recommendation.
2Check

They compare their thinking with an AI-generated answer. Where do the two differ?
3Unpack

The coach asks what a facilitator would, using the same APS frameworks, and helps them work out why.

Real scenarios, not videos

Work through realistic problems and get feedback as you go.

A facilitator's questions, any time

The probing questions of a live session, without the diary clash.

Built on 35 years of method

The coach is educated on Openside's Analytical Problem-Solving methodology.

A check on AI output

The same logic sense-checks AI analysis, proposals and recommendations before they reach a client.

Already have APS alumni in your firm? They can bring the same discipline to junior staff and colleagues, at their own pace.

Who it's for

For the people who have to advise.

Law

The senior associate who must say what to do, not only what the law says.

Scoping the client's real question and building a recommendation is a different skill from knowing the answer.

Accountancy

A profession where automation took the work judgement was learned on.

Structured thinking fills the gap that junior work used to fill.

Engineering and technical consultancy

The best specialist in the room is now leading the client conversation.

Expertise gets them the seat. Scoping, questioning and recommending keeps it.

Consulting and internal advisory

New managers and internal consulting groups who need one common method.

The same discipline across multi-stream engagements, teams and offices.

Also used by analytics, planning and project teams.

Evidence

What people who have done the programme say.

“The programme was a great learning experience that challenged my normal approach to framing problems/opportunities.”

Global Business Analyst, Internal Consulting Group

“An enriching experience to learn and put into practice new methodologies.”

Consultant, Big-Four Global Professional Services Firm

Why the loop matters

McKinsey's research on talent development finds the most durable results come from attempt-then-check loops, not from handing people AI tools.

As cited on Openside's programme page.

Questions

Before you book.

Do our people need to be APS alumni?

No. Alumni can pass the discipline on to wider teams. New leaders and new starters can begin from scratch.

Is the coach a general AI chatbot?

No. It is educated on 35 years of Openside methodology and guides thinking with the same frameworks our facilitators use in live workshops.

Does it replace the live programme?

It brings the same discipline on demand. The in-person programme remains for teams that want a facilitator in the room.

How does it help with AI-generated work?

People use the same APS logic to sense-check AI analysis, proposals and recommendations before they reach a client or a leadership team.

When can our firm start, and what does it cost?

The programme is in early access. Book a walkthrough and we will talk through timing and pricing for your team size.

Next step

See the coach question a real answer.

A 30-minute walkthrough for people who lead teams in professional services. We run the coach on a problem close to your work, then talk about your firm.

Prefer to talk? +44 (0)1829 770 977 contact@openside.group