How to Create an AI Upskilling Program
Learn about the impact of AI on job roles and get practical steps for developing a targeted AI training program that supports your workforce and maximizes the benefits of AI technology.
Credly Team
Research on 1,500 companies also shows that while AI-driven performance improvements can be short-lived if used solely to replace jobs, combining AI with human expertise leads to more substantial and lasting gains.
To maximize the benefits of AI and ensure a strong return on investment, organizations should focus on using AI to augment and enhance employee roles. This requires developing a targeted AI upskilling program that supports your workforce and drives long-term success.
In this factsheet, we’ll guide you through the essential steps to create a strategy that supports your employees, maximizes AI’s potential, and highlights the tools available at Pearson.
How to Build a Targeted AI Upskilling Program
1. Assess Organizational Needs
Start by identifying AI skills aligned with your organization’s goals. Tools like Faethm can help you identify which AI skills will be most relevant for your industry.
With that skills data in hand, you can map the AI skill gaps between the skills employees already have and those they’ll need. Identifying which roles and departments will benefit the most from AI upskilling and reskilling will help focus investments.
2. Set Clear Goals and Objectives
With AI skill gaps mapped, it’s time to set clear goals and objectives for the AI upskilling initiative. These may involve incorporating AI into specific projects or enhancing AI literacy across functional groups. Seeking feedback from workers, managers and executives can help identify areas where AI skills in the workforce have the biggest potential.
The goals should include KPIs and timelines to measure your progress toward the ideal end state.
3. Develop an AI Training Program
With clear goals in place, it’s time to invest in training programs tailored to your organization’s needs.
For some businesses, this means developing custom AI training programs with in-house AI experts, the IT group, data scientists and engineers, or other specialists in the company.
Another option, particularly if in-house AI expertise is limited, is online learning platforms (such as Coursera or Udacity) or specialized AI training providers.
4. Implement the AI Training Program
Next, it’s time to roll out the AI training program.
Set launch dates, key checkpoints and targeted completion deadlines. Your roll-out plan should include a pilot group phase to test the curriculum, gather feedback and make improvements before launching the program across the entire organization or targeted business functions.
5. Present Internal Resources Effectively
Think strategically about how to present your internal resources for AI training. Make it easy for employees to get started by organizing resources clearly and providing guidance on how to access and use them.
Offer support and create pathways that guide employees learning journey. Ensure these resources also support them in integrate their new skills into their roles.
6. Promote the Program Internally
Use internal newsletters, your organization’s intranet, email campaigns, meetings and other internal communication tools to build awareness and enthusiasm about the AI upskilling program. It’s important to address any questions employees may have.
Communicate a vision for how AI upskilling fits your organization’s business strategy. Explain the role of AI in your industry. And emphasize how AI upskilling can aid career growth and help employees stay competitive.
7. Utilize Digital Badges to Motivate and Build Culture
Integrate digital badges into your AI training program to motivate continuous learning and foster a culture of growth.
Platforms like Credly support verifiable, shareable digital badges for employees as they complete different stages of AI training. Digital credentials can also increase motivation to participate in and complete training programs.
8. Evaluate and Iterate
Regular evaluation and iteration enable you to measure the impact of AI skills development across your organization and support ongoing L&D investment.
Assessment can include:
- Collecting feedback from participants and other stakeholders on AI training effectiveness.
- Using built in analytic tools in a digital credentials platform like Credly to measure and report on the overall progress of the AI upskilling initiative.
- Measure the success of AI-specific objectives, such as improvements in AI project outcomes or increased AI competency.
Common Mistakes to Avoid in an AI-Specific Training Strategy
While any AI training strategy will change over time, here are some common pitfalls to beware of.
- Failing to balance business goals, individual needs and global trends: Harnessing the power of AI to achieve immediate business goals must be balanced with engaging your workforce. That means AI upskilling should benefit the organization and the workforce. Likewise, when evaluating L&D investments in AI upskilling it’s important to consider global AI skills trends.
- Ignoring ethical and legal considerations: AI brings a host of new ethical and legal considerations. Consider industry best practices, think through ethical issues and consult legal experts as you develop AI training strategies.
- Underestimating the importance of soft skills: Incorporating AI into business is not solely about AI skills. It also requires recognizing the growing importance of soft skills for many roles and ensuring training resources are deployed to support those, too. In fact, Pearson Skills outlook shows that the top five most sought-after skills (now and in the short-term future) are all human skills.
To get started developing an AI upskilling program for your organization, learn more about the AI skills in greatest demand. Complete the form below to download the Top AI Skills Report to jumpstart your AI upskilling program.
Read More
