For the government’s AI Action Plan to succeed, skills shortages must be confronted full-on with apprenticeships and upskilling vital tools for businesses hoping to keep abreast of technological change, writes Tim Stewart

Announced in January, the UK government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan sets an ambitious roadmap for harnessing artificial intelligence across industries, promising innovation, economic growth and global leadership.

Aiming to position the UK as “one of the great AI superpowers”, the plan is designed to boost economic growth, create future jobs, and improve the everyday lives of people across the country. However, the AI Action Plan also acknowledges the pressing need to train tens of thousands of AI professionals by 2030 to turn the government’s ambition into reality.

The UK workforce is currently under-equipped to meet these demands, with significant skills shortages persisting in areas such as data science, machine learning, and AI ethics. A recent survey also showed a lack of confidence, with just 33% of UK business leaders feeling confident in their organisation’s level of AI proficiency, compared with countries such as India (49%) and France (55%).

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It’s vital that skills shortages are addressed head-on if we want to make the most of AI opportunities and cement ourselves as a global leader in the race for AI leadership.

The need for continuous upskilling

The AI Opportunities Action Plan showcases a critical need to develop AI expertise across all educational and professional levels.

But truly embracing AI requires more than technical proficiency – businesses must adopt a policy of continuous upskilling to keep pace with technological advancements and establish the UK as a true AI superpower among global competitors. Currently, just 27% of UK business leaders believe their non-technical workforce is prepared to adopt AI into their roles, so it’s vital that the government works with businesses to ensure all employees gain a foundational understanding of AI while offering role-specific, specialised training where necessary.

For jobs where AI plays a critical role, targeted training programmes such as apprenticeships focused on essential competencies present a promising solution. They offer an effective way to build core competencies, expand the AI talent pool, and ensure that all upskilling opportunities are fully met.

Collaboration between the government and UK businesses will be essential to provide all employees with a foundational understanding of AI and facilitate its adoption as an integral part of UK business operations.

Harnessing the value of apprenticeships

The Action Plan aims to increase the diversity of the talent pool, expand education pathways into AI, and create a lifelong upskilling platform. Apprenticeships are an essential tool to help achieve this.

Apprenticeships encourage underrepresented communities to participate and can also be used as an upskilling tool for all seniority levels, widening the talent net and boosting hands-on experience with AI.

Businesses embracing AI training and upskilling can experience long-term cost savings, improved competitiveness, operational efficiency, more accurate decision-making, and higher employee satisfaction and retention.

To maximise impact, apprenticeships must be adequately funded, widely promoted, and tailored to the AI skill sets required various industries. Clear progression pathways from basic digital literacy to advanced AI roles will be essential to ensuring long-term workforce readiness.

Looking ahead

The AI Opportunities Action Plan provides an opportunity for a multi-faceted approach to developing our workforce’s AI skills. Collaboration between tech companies, educational institutions, and policymakers is vital to keep apprenticeship standards aligned with the fast-evolving AI landscape.

While this is certainly a promising direction, the government must first prepare the workforce by addressing current skills gaps, if we are to maximise the many opportunities that AI presents.

Although they are by no means a silver bullet, boosting AI skills through tailored training opportunities such as apprenticeships will play a key role in enabling the UK can build a more resilient workforce.

This approach is not only about creating AI specialists, but also promoting AI literacy across all sectors, updating qualifications to include AI awareness, and adapting traditional subjects to support AI understanding.

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The government’s commitment to education, industry collaboration, and skills development indicates a genuine understanding of the challenges ahead. The focus now must be on effective implementation and coordination among education providers, employers, and policymakers to deliver the UK’s AI-enabled future.

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