--- title: "Which AI course is right for me? | Metacamp Journal" description: "Compare GAI101, GAI201 and AI101 in Singapore: who each course is for, what you build, and how fees and SkillsFuture or IBF-STS funding work." url: https://www.metacamp.sg/journal/which-ai-course-gai101-gai201-ai101/ markdown: https://www.metacamp.sg/journal/which-ai-course-gai101-gai201-ai101.md note: "The Markdown version of the page at url. Generated from that page when the site is built; the two say the same thing." --- Practical guides · 10 min read Field note 013 Practical guides # Which AI course is right for me? GAI101, GAI201 and AI101 compared Two questions lead to a starting course, with what each one covers, what you build and how its fees and funding work. New to generative AI at work? Start with GAI101. Already building assistants or automations? Take GAI201. AI101 is a separate Python and data-analysis track for finance professionals. 11 NOV 2026 · Metacamp Editorial · Facts checked 11 November 2026 · Illustration generated with AI ![An etched line drawing of a single river splitting into three channels across contour lines, standing for the three course paths. Illustration generated with AI.](https://www.metacamp.sg/assets/journal/journal-guide-which-ai-course-gai101-gai201-ai101.jpg) Which AI course? All entries New to generative AI at work? Start with **GAI101 (Applied Generative AI Fundamentals)** . Already building assistants or automations? Take **GAI201 (Applied Agentic AI Systems)** . **AI101 (Data Analytics and AI with Python)** is a separate track for finance professionals who want to analyse data in code. All three are in-person courses with a S$1,750 full fee. ## 01 Quick answer - **New to generative AI, no coding wanted:** GAI101. No AI or coding experience needed. 18.5 hours. - **Already building with AI tools:** GAI201. It asks for GAI101, GAI101F or equivalent working generative-AI fluency. No coding. 18.5 hours. - **Want to analyse data in Python, especially in finance:** AI101. Python is taught from the fundamentals; tertiary education is required. - **In financial services, no coding wanted:** GAI101F, the foundation course built around financial-services work. ## 02 Find your starting point in two questions Fig. 01 Two questions that lead to a starting course. 1. **Do you already build assistants or automations with AI?** Yes: look at GAI201. No: go to question 2. 2. **Do you want to analyse data by writing Python?** Yes: look at AI101. No: start with GAI101. Not sure about question 1? Try the self-check . ## 03 The three courses side by side | | GAI101 | GAI201 | AI101 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Level | Beginner | Intermediate | Beginner (technical foundation) | | Who it is for | Working professionals in any industry | People with working generative-AI fluency | Finance professionals | | You need | Secondary education; no AI or coding experience | GAI101, GAI101F or equivalent fluency | Tertiary education | | Coding | None | None required | Python, taught from the fundamentals | | Time and format | 18.5 hours; 3 full days or 6 half days; in person | 18.5 hours; 3 days; in person | 3 days; in person | | You build | A custom assistant, a no-code automation, a document question-and-answer setup (RAG) and an end-to-end workflow | A role system map, three running multi-agent patterns, an agentic workflow graph, and evaluation and operations evidence | A Python capstone that collects, cleans, analyses and charts a financial-services dataset | | Funding route | SSG, Tier 2 (TGS-2026065683) | SSG, Tier 2 (TGS-2026067095) | IBF-STS (TGS-2024042276) | Source: the [Metacamp course pages](https://www.metacamp.sg/courses/) , checked 11 November 2026. ## 04 How the three courses fit together Fig. 02 How the four courses connect. - **GAI101 is the foundation.** From your first structured prompt to a working workflow. - **GAI201 builds on it.** Several AI agents working together, and how to test and run them safely. - **AI101 is a separate track.** It is not a prerequisite for GAI201, and GAI201 needs no Python. - **GAI101F is a second way in.** It also meets the GAI201 prerequisite. ## 05 GAI101: Applied Generative AI Fundamentals GAI101 is for working professionals who want to use generative AI reliably at work without writing code. Fig. 03 What you build in GAI101, step by step. The six topics: 1. **Generative AI foundations and prompt engineering.** How large language models work and where they fail, including hallucination and bias. Prompts with a task, role, context, examples and output format. ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini compared on workplace tasks. 2. **Creating content and working with data.** Image, voice and slide tools. Summarising and charting spreadsheets, with the conclusions checked against the source data. 3. **Building custom AI assistants.** Build reusable custom AI assistants with instructions, guardrails and knowledge files. 4. **No-code automation and AI agents.** An automation that connects AI to email, documents and spreadsheets, extended into a guided multi-step agent. 5. **Working with your own data (RAG) and agent harnesses.** Answers grounded in your own documents, checks for unsupported answers, PDPA-aware handling of sensitive data, and how an agent harness controls tools, permissions, memory and human review. 6. **End-to-end workflows and opportunity spotting.** One scoped workflow from your own role, then the knowledge and practical assessments. **Choose GAI101 if** you use AI tools now and then but have not built an assistant or automation. **Funding:** The course page lists GAI101 (TGS-2026065683) on the SSG Tier 2 pathway. See fees and funding . ## 06 GAI201: Applied Agentic AI Systems GAI201 is for people who want to design, evaluate and operate multi-agent systems for their own role. Fig. 04 The three multi-agent patterns built in GAI201. The three days: - **Day 1: your role as a system, and production multi-agent patterns.** Map your recurring work into components, each with a contract. Build a pipeline, a parallel fan-out and an orchestrator–workers system on real work inputs, and test whether a multi-agent design beats a single agent. - **Day 2: graph engineering, and failure literacy.** Draw a workflow as nodes and edges, wire it in n8n with routing, an approval gate, a bounded loop and error paths, and expose it through an MCP bridge. Then diagnose and repair agent teams that loop, stall or give confidently wrong output. - **Day 3: the evaluation harness, and operating the system.** Build a 20-case test set with a scoring rubric, compare human scores with an AI judge, and run a regression before deciding whether to ship. Finish with a token budget, retry limits, a kill switch, least-privilege permissions, a human approval gate and a one-page runbook. **Choose GAI201 if** you already build assistants or automations and want proof that several agents work together. **Funding:** The course page lists GAI201 (TGS-2026067095) on the SSG Tier 2 pathway, with the same indicative fee schedule as GAI101. ### Are you ready for GAI201? Fig. 05 A six-statement self-check for GAI201. The GAI101 topic tags are Metacamp's own reading, not an entry standard. Six statements drawn from what GAI101 covers. A guide, not an entry test. 1. I write prompts with a clear task, context, examples and output format. 2. I have built a custom assistant with its own instructions and knowledge files. 3. I have built a no-code automation that connects AI to email, documents or spreadsheets. 4. I have grounded AI answers in my own documents and checked for unsupported answers. 5. I check AI output against the source before I rely on it. 6. I can name a task in my role that AI could take on, and say where a person should still review it. Mostly true: GAI201 may suit you. Mostly not: start with GAI101. Unsure: write to [team@metacamp.sg](mailto:team@metacamp.sg) . ## 07 AI101: Data Analytics and AI with Python AI101 is for finance professionals preparing for data engineer, data analyst, credit and lending operations, or credit risk work. Fig. 06 The four stages of the AI101 capstone, as Metacamp reads the course outline. The tool named at each stage is illustrative. The three days: - **Day 1:** what data analytics is, Jupyter Notebook, Python data types, operators, strings, lists and loops. - **Day 2:** conditions, dictionaries, functions and debugging, then numerical analysis with NumPy. - **Day 3:** data wrangling with pandas, then charts with Matplotlib and Seaborn, explained against a financial-services question. **Choose AI101 if** you want to work with data directly and are ready to learn to code. **Funding:** Metacamp lists AI101 (TGS-2024042276) as supported under IBF's Standards Training Scheme (IBF-STS), subject to eligibility and completion: at least 75% attendance and a pass in every assessment ( [IBF FAQ](https://www.ibf.org.sg/frequently-asked-questions/tpgateway) ). ## 08 What about GAI101F? GAI101F (Applied Generative AI for Financial Services) is 18.5 hours; it can run over 2 or 3 days depending on scheduling, and the first public run is 2 days. It needs no AI, coding or finance qualification. You build a custom assistant on a personal knowledge brain, an AI agent with no-code routines across your calendar, email and notes, and a multi-model client workflow. Metacamp lists GAI101F (TGS-2026066964) as supported under IBF-STS, subject to eligibility and completion. Details: [metacamp.sg/courses/gai101f](https://www.metacamp.sg/courses/gai101f/) . ## 09 Dates and timetables Check the dates and timetable for the run you choose on its course page. ## 10 Fees and funding by course Fig. 07 How the S$1,750 full fee splits into subsidy, credit and what you pay. Indicative fees checked 11 November 2026; course-run and learner eligibility apply; confirm at enrolment. The four metacamp.sg course pages show the same schedule. | Learner | Subsidy | You pay | With up to S$500 Opening SkillsFuture Credit | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Singapore Citizen aged 40 and over | 70% | S$525 | from S$25 | | Singapore Citizen under 40 | 50% | S$875 | from S$375 | | Permanent Resident | 50% | S$875 | Not available | | Others | None | S$1,750 | Not available | - **Full fee.** Each course has a full fee of S$1,750. Metacamp is not GST-registered, so no GST is added. - **One funding scheme per course.** Metacamp lists GAI101 and GAI201 under SSG funding, and AI101 and GAI101F under IBF-STS. Check which course-fee funding scheme applies to your course; do not assume grants can be stacked. - **SSG rates.** Tier 2 funding is up to 50% of course fees, or up to 70% for Singapore Citizens aged 40 and over. Self-sponsored learners must be at least 21 ( [MySkillsFuture](https://www.myskillsfuture.gov.sg/content/portal/en/career-resources/career-resources/education-career-personal-development/SkillsFuture_Funding.html) ). - **IBF-STS rates.** 50% for eligible Citizens and PRs, or 70% for eligible Citizens aged 40 and over, capped at S$3,000 per participant per course. Learners must be physically based in Singapore and complete the course ( [IBF](https://www.ibf.org.sg/faqs/training) ). - **Opening SkillsFuture Credit.** Singapore Citizens aged 25 and over have S$500 that does not expire and can be used on top of course subsidies ( [MySkillsFuture](https://www.myskillsfuture.gov.sg/content/portal/en/career-resources/career-resources/education-career-personal-development/SkillsFuture_Credit.html) ). PRs get the subsidy but not the credit. - **Mid-Career Credit.** The course pages currently say Mid-Career Credit cannot be used. For runs from 1 December 2026, check the specific course listing for the Mid-Career Credit label before relying on this ( [MySkillsFuture](https://www.myskillsfuture.gov.sg/content/portal/en/career-resources/career-resources/education-career-personal-development/SkillsFuture_Credit.html) ). - **A note on names.** SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG, now part of SWDA) merged with Workforce Singapore on 1 July 2026 to form the Skills and Workforce Development Agency, so some official pages now say "SWDA funding" ( [IRAS](https://www.iras.gov.sg/schemes/disbursement-schemes/enterprise-innovation-scheme-(eis) )). ### Check any course's funding in three steps Fig. 08 Three steps to check the funding of any course. 1. **Find the TGS code** near the top of the course page on metacamp.sg. 2. **Open the official listing.** Search the code on MySkillsFuture, or add it to the end of `courses.myskillsfuture.gov.sg/courses/` , as in the [GAI101 listing](https://courses.myskillsfuture.gov.sg/courses/TGS-2026065683) . 3. **Read the fee breakdown:** full fee, SkillsFuture subsidies, SkillsFuture Credit and an estimated amount to pay. For AI101 and GAI101F, check the IBF-STS subsidy on their Metacamp course pages as well. ## 11 For teams and employers Fig. 09 The SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit, SFEC, changes on 1 December 2026. - **Private team runs.** A private GAI101 run for your team gets the same subsidies as a public run, provided it is the full 18.5-hour course as registered with SSG. - **Enterprise Innovation Scheme (EIS).** EIS gives a 400% tax deduction on the first S$400,000 of qualifying training expenditure in each Year of Assessment from YA2024 to YA2028 ( [IRAS](https://www.iras.gov.sg/schemes/disbursement-schemes/enterprise-innovation-scheme-(eis) )). EIS may apply to qualifying employer-paid training. Check your exact course code and supporting period on the [official list](https://go.gov.sg/eis-training) and consult your tax adviser. Eligibility is not a blanket promise. SFEC changes on 1 December 2026 The current SFEC expires on 30 November 2026. From 1 December, the redesigned SFEC gives eligible companies a fresh S$10,000 credit in an online wallet for supported workforce transformation. Check programme and employer eligibility before booking ( [MOM, 3 November 2026](https://www.mom.gov.sg/newsroom/parliament-questions-and-replies/2026/1103-written-answer-to-pq-on-redesigned-skillsfuture-enterprise-credit) ; [TPGateway memo](https://www.tpgateway.gov.sg/resources/announcements-and-circulars/ssg-information-memorandum-eed-2026-1---launch-of-the-redesigned-skillsfuture-enterprise-credit-(sfec) -and-expiry-of-the-current-skillsfuture-enterprise-credit-(sfec))). To plan a team run, see [metacamp.sg/teams](https://www.metacamp.sg/teams/) . ## 12 FAQ ### Which Metacamp AI course should I take first? GAI101, if you are new to generative AI. Take GAI201 after GAI101, GAI101F or equivalent experience. Choose AI101 to analyse financial data with Python. ### Do I need coding experience for GAI101 or GAI201? No. Neither needs coding. AI101 teaches Python from the fundamentals and requires tertiary education. ### Can I go straight to GAI201 without GAI101? Yes, if you already have working generative-AI fluency, for example from building custom assistants and no-code automations. ### Is AI101 a prerequisite for GAI201? No. AI101 is a separate Python and data-analysis track for finance professionals. ### How much does GAI101 cost after SkillsFuture funding? The course page lists S$875 at 50%, or S$525 at 70% for Singapore Citizens aged 40 and over, against a S$1,750 full fee. With up to S$500 Opening SkillsFuture Credit, for Citizens aged 25 and over: from S$375 or from S$25. Indicative fees checked 11 November 2026; confirm at enrolment. ### Is GAI201 SkillsFuture funded? The course page lists GAI201 (TGS-2026067095) on the SSG Tier 2 pathway, with the same indicative fee schedule as GAI101. Confirm at enrolment. ### Can I use my SkillsFuture Mid-Career Credit for these courses? The course pages currently say Mid-Career Credit cannot be used. For runs from 1 December 2026, check the specific course listing for the Mid-Career Credit label before relying on this. Singapore Citizens aged 25 and over can use up to S$500 Opening SkillsFuture Credit. ### Is GST charged on Metacamp course fees? No. Metacamp is not GST-registered, so no GST is added to the S$1,750 fee. ### Can I take these AI courses on weekends? Check the dates and timetable for the run you choose on its course page. ### What is the difference between GAI101 and GAI101F? Both are 18.5-hour, no-code foundation courses. GAI101F is built around financial-services work. Metacamp lists GAI101 under SSG funding and GAI101F under IBF-STS, subject to eligibility. ### Can my company send a whole team? Yes. Metacamp can run GAI101 privately for your team. A private run gets the same subsidies as a public run, provided it is the full 18.5-hour course as registered with SSG. ### Does GAI101 qualify for the Enterprise Innovation Scheme (EIS)? EIS may apply to qualifying employer-paid training. Check your exact course code and supporting period on the [official list](https://go.gov.sg/eis-training) and consult your tax adviser. Eligibility is not a blanket promise. Sources - Metacamp course pages: [Courses](https://www.metacamp.sg/courses/) · [GAI101](https://www.metacamp.sg/courses/gai101/) · [GAI201](https://www.metacamp.sg/courses/gai201/) · [AI101](https://www.metacamp.sg/courses/ai101/) · [GAI101F](https://www.metacamp.sg/courses/gai101f/) · [For Teams](https://www.metacamp.sg/teams/) - MySkillsFuture: [SkillsFuture course fee funding](https://www.myskillsfuture.gov.sg/content/portal/en/career-resources/career-resources/education-career-personal-development/SkillsFuture_Funding.html) · [SkillsFuture Credit](https://www.myskillsfuture.gov.sg/content/portal/en/career-resources/career-resources/education-career-personal-development/SkillsFuture_Credit.html) · listings for [GAI101](https://courses.myskillsfuture.gov.sg/courses/TGS-2026065683) , [GAI201](https://courses.myskillsfuture.gov.sg/courses/TGS-2026067095) , [GAI101F](https://courses.myskillsfuture.gov.sg/courses/TGS-2026066964) and [AI101](https://courses.myskillsfuture.gov.sg/courses/TGS-2024042276) - IBF: [IBF training FAQ](https://www.ibf.org.sg/faqs/training) · [IBF FAQ on completion requirements](https://www.ibf.org.sg/frequently-asked-questions/tpgateway) - SFEC: [MOM written answer on the redesigned SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit, 3 November 2026](https://www.mom.gov.sg/newsroom/parliament-questions-and-replies/2026/1103-written-answer-to-pq-on-redesigned-skillsfuture-enterprise-credit) · [TPGateway memorandum on the expiry of the current SFEC](https://www.tpgateway.gov.sg/resources/announcements-and-circulars/ssg-information-memorandum-eed-2026-1---launch-of-the-redesigned-skillsfuture-enterprise-credit-(sfec) -and-expiry-of-the-current-skillsfuture-enterprise-credit-(sfec)) - EIS: [IRAS: Enterprise Innovation Scheme](https://www.iras.gov.sg/schemes/disbursement-schemes/enterprise-innovation-scheme-(eis) ) · [EIS course list](https://go.gov.sg/eis-training) Related entries - [Practical guides 11 NOV 2026 · 12 min read **In-person vs online AI courses in Singapore: how to choose**](https://www.metacamp.sg/journal/in-person-vs-online-ai-courses-singapore/) - [Practical guides 5 AUG 2026 · 2 min read **Before you bring an AI tool into your work**](https://www.metacamp.sg/journal/workplace-ai-decision/) - [Practical guides 5 AUG 2026 · 2 min read **Put your AI rules in plain language**](https://www.metacamp.sg/journal/plain-language-ai-policy-card/) --- Metacamp is an AI academy in Singapore. Facts in one place: https://www.metacamp.sg/facts.md. Every page as Markdown: https://www.metacamp.sg/llms.txt. Contact: team@metacamp.sg.