Bertina Ceccarelli is CEO of NPower, a national nonprofit rooted in community and on a mission to advance equity in the tech industry.
The conversation around the adoption and application of AI continues to percolate, making it clear that the business world has an imperfect understanding of the technology’s real benefits and potential pitfalls. This isn’t surprising.
AI is evolving at a lightning-fast pace that’s bewildering to many who are considering how best to use it, and the many more who want to make sure their jobs are safe in the face of its rapidly increasing capabilities and quickly morphing roles. ChatGPT is but one example of a platform that seemed primitive when first introduced just over two years ago compared to what it can do today. As GenAI swiftly reshapes industries, the number of workers giving voice to fears of job displacement is growing.
While this fear is not unfounded, it doesn’t amount to a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is true that automation is transforming many roles—especially those that involve repetitive rule-based tasks—but human talent and abilities that are singular to people are indispensable and will remain so.
The key to long-term career security in an automated workforce isn’t resisting AI; it’s learning to work alongside it and to govern it. Organizations that wish to be adaptable as business begins to move at the speed of AI-innovation must ensure that their workers are trained to be AI-resilient.
The Vital Role Of AI Training
AI training does more than teach technical know-how; it builds career strength. Expanding AI literacy helps individuals understand how to integrate emerging technologies into their work, rather than fear their impact. Individuals who know how to work with AI are not simply protecting their jobs; they are opening new pathways for advancement that often lead to higher earning potential. In fact, AI-related roles often rank among the most in-demand and well-paid across industries.
Workers themselves increasingly view AI as a force they will need to understand to succeed in future employment. According to “AI for Workers and Learners,” a new study from Jobs For The Future, more than three-quarters of respondents (77%) believe AI will have an impact on the job or career they expect to have in the next 3-5 years. In addition, nearly four in ten respondents report using AI from every day to at least once a week.
Organizations that invest in AI training realize benefits to their workforce that include sharper decision-making, greater innovation, and improved operational efficiency. Additionally, by automating routine tasks, AI frees up employees to focus on meaningful, strategic work, increasing both productivity and job satisfaction.
Integrating AI Skills Training Into Your Organization
According to the Society for Human Resource Management, many forward-thinking organizations are proactively addressing the AI skills gap through comprehensive training programs (paywall) that aim to enhance employees’ proficiency with AI tools, thereby increasing productivity and fostering innovation within the workplace.
At NPower, the nonprofit where I am CEO, one of the AI-focused training courses we provide was designed for individuals with foundational IT skills, blending technical training with essential, human-centered capabilities, such as collaboration and ethical decision-making, equipping our students to not only thrive in an AI-enhanced workforce but to lead.
Many businesses and other organizations have already begun embedding AI skills training throughout their workforce. Regardless of where your organization is in this journey, the following recommendations can help you initiate or elevate your approach:
• Assess current AI skills gaps. This may include conducting employee audits, surveys and interviews, among other activities, to understand and identify the skills and competencies that currently exist and the gaps. The information gleaned will then help to inform the skills training needs across an organization.
• Set clear goals and measure outcomes. Align AI training initiatives with both short- and long-term business objectives. As you roll out training, tailor goals to employees’ roles, responsibilities and levels within the organization, setting clear, measurable learning outcomes that reflect their specific functions, whether technical, analytical or managerial.
• Partner with experts. Consider collaborating or recruiting experts from universities, edtech platforms and nonprofits and AI vendors. Another strategy is to invite guest speakers or trainers from leading AI companies for workshops and talks.
• Build a culture of learning. You might create the time and space within your organization that motivates employees to continue learning, including designating specific times during the workweek. Another way to maintain positive momentum is to celebrate those who upskill, and create internal groups or meetups where people can share what they’ve learned.
• Track progress. It’s important to keep an eye on how the training is going. Are people completing it? Are they actually using what they’ve learned? Get feedback and make improvements along the way.
Along with skills training, it’s also important to ensure workers are trained in AI ethics and governance so that they understand how to use AI systems transparently and fairly. Additionally, it’s vital to expand access to AI training programs for moderate to lower-income individuals to help increase their opportunities for economic mobility.
Conclusion
Each of us in business has a choice to make. We can let the fast pace of AI innovation widen the opportunity gap for our workers and our organizations, or we can use AI as a catalyst for action, harnessing it to build a stronger workforce, one that does not simply keep pace with AI but instead defines its future.
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