Nicole Patten (Claude Training): How to Actually Use Claude—Start With Skills, Not Agents 🛠️

Nicole Patten is the founder of Elevate Online and Claude Training, businesses helping founders, teams, and enterprises actually adopt Claude rather than simply pay for it. A former Senior UX Engineer at Google, she left in 2025 to focus full time on Claude adoption, and now runs her consultancy solo, with zero employees, generating over $30,000 a month. Her client roster includes multi-billion dollar teams alongside fast-scaling AI studios, and her recent Claude Code hackathon at NY Tech Week drew over 100 attendees.AGENDA:- 00:00:30 - Meet Nicole Patten, Ex-Google UX Engineer- 00:03:22 - Where Are We on the Claude Adoption Curve?- 00:05:22 - The #1 Misunderstanding About Claude- 00:06:05 - Claude AI vs Cowork vs Code, Explained- 00:07:00 - Where Non-Technical Founders Should Draw the Line- 00:07:54 - Running a $30K/Month Business Fully on Claude- 00:09:35 - Agents, Skills, MCPs, and Directives, Decoded- 00:11:47 - Skills vs Agents: Where Should Beginners Start?- 00:13:28 - Human in the Loop vs Full Automation- 00:14:26 - Enterprise Teams vs Solopreneurs, Same Claude Playbook- 00:15:37 - Why Every Employee Needs the Same Claude Skills- 00:16:32 - Why AI-Native Companies Will Outrun Everyone Else- 00:18:03 - Inside the NYC Tech Week Hackathon Project- 00:21:38 - The 60-Day Playbook for Company-Wide AI Rollouts- 00:22:52 - What Actually Proves Your Team Adopted AI- 00:23:44 - Where to Learn More and Final Advice