Industry giants like Amazon, Barclays, BT, Google, IBM, Intuit, Microsoft, Sage, and Salesforce, have joined a new government-industry partnership to foster AI skills.

A fifth of the UK workforce will be supported with the AI skills they may need to thrive in their jobs as a result of the partnership.

The partnership was unveiled by technology secretary Peter Kyle during London Tech Week, focusing on how industry and government can work together to upskill the UK workforce, including identifying future skills needs and making training more accessible.

During the meeting, the group worked towards agreeing terms of reference and a schedule of regular meetings helping to track its progress.

“Artificial Intelligence is the new economic frontier, and we want to get Brits ready for jobs of the future so we can spark the growth powering our Plan for Change,” science, innovation, and technology secretary Pete Kyle said.

“If we want to realise AI’s incredible potential though, we need to make sure people of all ages and from all parts of the UK have the skills they need for jobs both in and with the technology – especially given we expect around 10 million workers to be using AI in their day-to-day role by 2035.

“Within days of announcing that we’re partnering with some of the world’s biggest tech leaders to help us do exactly that, we’re getting them around the table – representing a vote of confidence not only in Britain’s workers, but in the potential we offer as a global AI powerhouse.”

Companies who have signed up to this partnership will all bring a different area of expertise to its work. Microsoft have already committed to upskilling one million workers in AI by the end of the year, while firms including SAS and Sage will provide high-quality AI training resources for workers, boosting their confidence in using and adopting the technology.

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IBM are also set to tap into the power of its IBM SkillsBuild training programmes to roll out targeted training modules for workers, arming them with the tools they need to confidently adopt and use AI.

In the 12 months since the government took office, the UK has attracted more than £44 billion in AI investment, with 13,250 jobs being created since the Prime Minister launched the AI Opportunities Action Plan in January.