Uncover how Microsoft and Pearson are equipping learners with AI abilities for the longer term.
Over the previous few years, corporations all over the world have seen a paradigm shift in how people devour 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 Development 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 rejoice Nationwide AI Literacy Day within the US on March 28 this yr, it’s clear that nobody firm will seemingly be capable to meet the alternatives of tomorrow. We imagine it’ll take modern partnerships to meaningfully affect the lives of individuals all over the world 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 deal with one of many prime 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 understand the total worth of AI by means of reskilling.
Microsoft and Pearson are addressing the challenges and alternatives round reskilling on the Outfit-GSV sums 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 vital to making a world wherein all folks have equal entry to the longer term.
At ASU-GSV, Microsoft Company Vice President of Worldwide Studying, Jeana Jorgensen, will be a part of Pearson President of Workforce Abilities, Vishaal Gupta, for a dialogue on remodeling abilities improvement and expertise planning for the AI period. They’ll speak about how fast intervention is required or we threat 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 vital abilities they want to reach a technology-driven world.
Rethinking reskilling
Given the pressing have to 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 providers 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 providers to hundreds of thousands of learners, at totally different levels of their studying journey throughout the globe.
Modern collaboration – Pearson and Microsoft will launch a strategic collaboration aimed toward serving to folks construct AI proficiency and technical abilities by means of new AI credentials and certifications. Moreover, Pearson and Microsoft will collaborate on a sequence of copilots, brokers, and AI instruments focused at serving to folks develop abilities—corresponding to English language studying—and determine abilities gaps seamlessly whereas they work.
Investing in technology-driven careers – Microsoft will lengthen its present partnership with Pearson VUE, a key supplier of Microsoft Cloud and Workplace certifications, by means of 2029. These certifications have already helped hundreds of thousands of younger folks, educators, and employees put together for jobs that use Microsoft’s world-class know-how. This enlargement will open these very important credentials to scores of further learners and employees all over the world.
Powering the Pearson workforce – After having piloted and examined Microsoft 365 Copilot, Pearson will develop 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 supply AI skilling to folks throughout the globe. In 2024, Microsoft and its companions educated and licensed over 23 million folks 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 all over the world 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 a part of the Microsoft AI Abilities Fest. Registration is open now to have interaction in deep dives, experiential content material, hackathons, and sensible periods that may improve your AI abilities over 50 days of discovery and studying, beginning April 8, 2025.
There’s a major 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 seeking 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
