Dive Brief:
- AWS and online learning platform Udemy launched a six-week generative AI training program for leaders across industries, the companies announced Thursday.
- The course is offered through Udemy's Business Leadership Academy program and addresses three learning objectives: improving generative AI expertise, promoting innovation and fostering company culture change.
- The program will blend self-paced learning modules with purpose-built groups, micro-learning courses and guidance from industry experts. As part of the curriculum, participants will work directly with PartyRock, an Amazon Bedrock playground.
Dive Insight:
In the era of generative AI, training options related to the technology have proliferated as executives and employees look to roll up their sleeves.
AWS has expanded its free AI training course catalog several times over the past year to include primer courses for leaders and technical courses for engineers and developers. Microsoft and Google have also put out AI-related training programs at no cost.
Vendor-led training courses have a dual effect. These offerings often focus on specific tools or platforms, like Azure OpenAI Service or Amazon Bedrock, easing adoption barriers for potential customers. They also benefit the participants.
Tech workers with generative AI skills can gain a nearly 50% salary bump compared to job seekers without them, according to an Indeed report published in February. Leaders can also capitalize on the added expertise needed to address governance gaps. Enterprises are lacking clear adoption roadmaps and struggling to show the value of AI projects as the technology’s usage in the workplace soars.
Without the right plan, CIOs are at risk of hindering potential employee experience gains when handing AI tools to workers.
Employees are currently more likely to focus on lower-value work if AI solutions save them time on other tasks, according to a Slack survey published this week. Employees trained in AI, however, were 19 times more likely to report that AI improved their productivity.
