Sheila Flavell CBE, COO of FDM Group, discusses how apprenticeships can get your business AI ready and equip employees with the skills essential for handling AI. he rapid rise of AI is fundamentally changing

T the workplace, forcing businesses to reassess their capabilities and those of their workforce.

As businesses become increasingly ambitious, AI-driven automation continues to streamline administrative functions and the priorities, goals and expectations of their workforce are likewise becoming increasingly ambitious.

Yet one in five UK employees hasn’ t received training to work with AI technologies, even though these technologies are essential to their roles. This discerns a clear gap in talent acquisition and training through schemes such as apprenticeships.

When it comes to the training and development of employees in AI capabilities specifically, 86 % of British managers reported never having any formal AI training from their employers and, of these, only 9 % believed their organisations possess the necessary skills to utilise AI effectively.

The focus needs to be on future-proofing businesses and those working for them. Equipping employees with the skills essential for handling AI and supporting businesses AI ambitions is in the best interest of all parties, and apprenticeships can form the ideal platform to do so.

The core skills revolution

Data from the World Economic Forum predicts 44 % of core skills will be

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