Uncover how Microsoft and Pearson are equipping learners with AI abilities for the longer term.
Over the previous few years, corporations around the globe have seen a paradigm shift in how people eat content material and attain new abilities—modifications that may solely proceed to speed up and evolve within the AI period. A world IDC survey1 discovered {that a} lack of expert employees is the largest problem for enterprises implementing AI know-how inside their organizations. This shift highlights the necessity for steady adaptation to rising applied sciences and collaborative efforts to bridge the AI abilities hole.
The 2024 Work Pattern Index Annual Report from Microsoft and LinkedIn additionally discovered that 66% of leaders say they wouldn’t rent somebody with out AI abilities. As we have a good time Nationwide AI Literacy Day within the US on March 28 this yr, it’s clear that nobody firm will doubtless be capable of meet the alternatives of tomorrow. We consider it’ll take revolutionary partnerships to meaningfully influence the lives of individuals around the globe with AI literacy and abilities improvement.
Empowering learners with important AI abilities
Microsoft and Pearson, the world’s lifelong studying firm, introduced a strategic collaboration to assist tackle one of many high challenges going through organizations globally: skilling for the period of AI. The partnership will deal with offering employers, employees, and learners with AI-powered services and products to assist put together the present and future workforce throughout industries for the evolving panorama of labor in an AI-powered financial system. By combining Pearson’s experience in studying and evaluation with Microsoft’s cloud and AI applied sciences, this partnership will play a foundational function in serving to organizations notice the complete worth of AI by way of reskilling.
Microsoft and Pearson are addressing the challenges and alternatives round reskilling on the ASU-GSV Summit in San Diego, US, April 6-9, 2025. The summit is devoted to the scaled improvements within the supply of schooling and workforce abilities which might be crucial to making a world through which all individuals have equal entry to the longer term.
At ASU-GSV, Microsoft Company Vice President of Worldwide Studying, Jeana Jorgensen, will be part of Pearson President of Workforce Abilities, Vishaal Gupta, for a dialogue on reworking abilities improvement and expertise planning for the AI period. They’ll speak about how fast intervention is required or we danger the AI abilities hole turning into a abilities chasm, threatening the power of people and organizations to thrive in an AI-powered future.
I’ll be additionally becoming a member of Vishaal and Jeana for a dialogue at ASU-GSV on skilling for the AI period. We’ll dive deeper into how the Microsoft and Pearson collaboration will rework and scale AI skilling and assist organizations equip learners and employees with the crucial abilities they want to achieve a technology-driven world.
Rethinking reskilling
Given the pressing must rethink studying and reskill employees, Microsoft and Pearson will collaborate in a number of methods, together with:
- Customized studying at scale – Pearson will energy its trusted and world-renowned content material, evaluation, upskilling, and certification companies with Microsoft Azure cloud computing and AI infrastructure. This partnership will assist Pearson additional scale AI and know-how capabilities throughout the enterprise, increasing personalised studying and AI-enabled companies to thousands and thousands of learners, at totally different levels of their studying journey throughout the globe.
- Revolutionary collaboration – Pearson and Microsoft will launch a strategic collaboration geared toward serving to individuals construct AI proficiency and technical abilities by way of new AI credentials and certifications. Moreover, Pearson and Microsoft will collaborate on a collection of copilots, brokers, and AI instruments focused at serving to individuals develop abilities—resembling English language studying—and establish abilities gaps seamlessly whereas they work.
- Investing in technology-driven careers – Microsoft will prolong its present partnership with Pearson VUE, a key supplier of Microsoft Cloud and Workplace certifications, by way of 2029. These certifications have already helped thousands and thousands of younger individuals, educators, and employees put together for jobs that use Microsoft’s world-class know-how. This enlargement will open these important credentials to scores of further learners and employees around the globe.
- Powering the Pearson workforce – After having piloted and examined Microsoft 365 Copilot, Pearson will broaden its use by deploying it to its world workforce. That is a part of an ongoing effort to introduce office AI instruments that improve effectivity, creativity, and productiveness and drive higher operational efficiency.
The partnership extends the efforts of each Microsoft and Pearson to offer AI skilling to individuals throughout the globe. In 2024, Microsoft and its companions educated and licensed over 23 million individuals in digital abilities. Pearson launched its Generative AI Foundations certification to equip professionals and college students with the important abilities wanted to work with generative AI applied sciences. Moreover, organizations around the globe use Pearson VUE, together with Pearson’s AI-powered Faethm functionality, and Credly badging to diagnose, assess, and certify abilities.
Develop your AI abilities
Interested in further methods to develop AI literacy and construct AI abilities? Get began at this time and be part of the Microsoft AI Abilities Fest. Registration is open now to have interaction in deep dives, experiential content material, hackathons, and sensible classes that may improve your AI abilities over 50 days of discovery and studying, beginning April 8, 2025.
There’s a big alternative to work collectively to construct AI abilities and empower the longer term workforce. Whether or not you, your crew, or your college students are simply getting began or trying to refine your capabilities, uncover assets to assist your journey.
1 IDC InfoBrief: sponsored by Microsoft, 2024 Enterprise Alternative of AI, IDC# US52699124, November 2024