In our previous article, From awareness to application, we explored how AI training is evolving as organisations move beyond basic awareness towards practical workplace application.
Since then, two important publications from Skills England and the Department for Work and Pensions have highlighted the growing importance of AI capability across the UK workforce:
The Skills England Annual Skills Report and Sectoral Skills Needs Assessments 2026
Skills for AI: What Works for AI Upskilling in the UK
Rather than summarising the reports, we’ve reflected on what they mean in practice for organisations looking to build AI capability.
One question keeps coming up: Where do we start?
Every organisation’s starting point will be different. However, based on what we’re seeing across our clients and the wider learning market, we’d encourage organisations to begin by asking four simple questions:
- What business capability are we trying to build?
- How will we build capability over time?
- How does AI fit within our wider learning strategy?
- How will we coordinate learning as our needs evolve?
The answers will vary from one organisation to another, but they provide a useful starting point for building future-ready capability.
1. Start with business capability
When AI becomes a priority, it can be tempting to begin by looking for courses or technology.
Our view is that organisations should first step back and ask:
What capabilities are we trying to build?
Rather than starting with learning solutions, consider:
- Where could AI create the greatest business value?
- Which teams or roles are likely to benefit most?
- What level of capability is needed across the organisation?
- How will AI complement existing ways of working?
Starting with business capability helps ensure learning supports organisational priorities rather than simply responding to the latest technology trend.
2. Build capability over time
Future-ready capability is rarely developed through a single training course.
Like leadership, technical and professional development, AI capability grows over time as people gain confidence, experience and opportunities to apply new skills.
Taking a phased approach allows organisations to respond to changing technologies and business priorities without needing to redesign their learning strategy every time something new emerges.
3. Keep AI within your wider learning strategy
Although AI is attracting significant attention, it is only one part of a much broader learning landscape.
Alongside AI, organisations continue to invest in leadership, compliance, technical, professional and operational capability.
Future-ready learning is not about replacing one priority with another. It is about balancing established learning needs with emerging skills, ensuring people have access to the right expertise at the right time, and adapting learning as organisational priorities evolve.
4. Plan how you’ll coordinate learning
As learning needs become more diverse, organisations are increasingly working with a wider range of specialist providers.
In our experience, the challenge is no longer simply finding training. It is coordinating learning across multiple subjects, suppliers and business areas while maintaining visibility, consistency and governance.
Future-ready learning isn’t simply about accessing more learning. It is about making increasingly diverse learning requirements easier to manage.
For many organisations, having an independent, vendor-neutral learning partner provides an effective way to access the right expertise while maintaining oversight of external learning across the wider organisation.
Looking ahead
AI capability will continue to evolve, but the challenge for organisations is unlikely to be choosing a single course or technology. It will be deciding how AI fits alongside wider learning priorities and how capability can be developed over time.
Whether the requirement is AI, leadership, compliance or technical development, the principles remain the same: start with business needs, build capability over time, keep learning aligned to organisational priorities and ensure increasingly diverse learning can be coordinated effectively.
Future-ready learning isn’t about preparing for one technology. It’s about building the capability and flexibility to respond to whatever comes next.
