As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly pervasive in education, professional development (PD) for educators to develop AI competencies has become a necessity. Despite growing offerings in AI-focused PD programs, few studies have systematically examined how educators’ AI-related understanding evolves during these programs. In this study, we investigated how educators engaged with and progressed through AI competencies across a ten-week online PD program. Drawing on the UNESCO AI Competency Framework for Teachers (AI CFT), we applied Ordered Network Analysis (ONA) to model the sequential structure of educators’ discussion posts and open-ended reflections across three program phases. Results showed that educators’ discourse primarily centered on foundational competencies, such as basic AI techniques and AI-assisted teaching. Additionally, comparison between teachers and administrators revealed distinct developmental trajectories early in the program, but these differences converged over time through shared learning experiences. This study demonstrates the utility of ONA for tracing conceptual development in PD contexts and highlights the need for intentional program design to guide educators toward developing advanced AI competencies.