Dive Brief:
- Most IT workers said training for the safe and effective use of AI tools is lacking, according to a recent report from TrustedTech. Censuswide conducted a survey of 2,001 employees and decision-makers in the U.K. and U.S. on behalf of the IT services company for the report.
- Amid lagging training, the gains from existing enterprise AI deployment efforts are spread unevenly across industries, according to the report. Although more than half of IT and telecommunications workers are saving five or more hours per week thanks to AI tools, only 1 in 5 employees in education and healthcare report similar upsides.
- Self-training is the most common source of AI training among employees, with 41% of workers saying they’ve learned to use AI tools themselves. Just 15% of respondents credit their expertise to employer-sponsored training.
Dive Insight:
AI and its purported efficiency gains are drawing trillions of dollars in enterprise spend, even as adoption hurdles remain. Concerns over costs and governance issues are slowing down deployment plans, but the looming skills gaps remains one of the most stubborn roadblocks.
CIOs have to take a people-centric approach to succeed with AI implementation efforts, with some leaders suggesting companies earmark a portion of their AI spending plans for training.
Before skills gaps can be addressed, businesses have to align their plans behind a specific platform, according to Heath Madison, senior director of professional services at TrustedTech. It’s a step many organizations are still stuck on.
“If they haven’t even picked what basket they’re putting their eggs in, how are they going to train their team on it?” Madison told CIO Dive. A lack of training programs can prevent organizations from making the most of the investments they make in a specific platform, Madison said.
“You’re giving someone a wrench and not telling them whether to go right or left with it,” Madison said. “If we don’t educate people on the proper way to use it, they’ll use it in whatever way they can.”
Access to AI training can strengthen a company’s ability to reap rewards from prior spending, according to a DataCamp report published in late February. More than 4 in 10 among organizations with mature data and AI literacy upskilling report ROI on their AI implementation plans, compared to just 1 in 5 among training laggards.
CIOs hoping to support more effective deployment efforts around AI can start by leaning on their C-suite peers, getting buy-in from other executives on the importance of proper training.
“The CIO is a senior member of the organization, but they’re not the be-all, end-all,” Madison said. “They have to be able to convince the CRO, the CEO, that there is inherent risk.”
Additionally, leaders should think creatively about what exactly constitutes training, as smaller snack-sized lessons can be easier to consume than longer training modules.
“It’s not 20 years ago,” said Madison. “Training does not mean sitting your entire company in a conference room eight hours a day for a week.”
