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Navigating the GenAI Era: How Skills-Based Approaches Can Drive  Organizational Transformation
Navigating the GenAI Era: How Skills-Based Approaches Can Drive Organizational Transformation

February 19, 2024

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Navigating the GenAI Era: How Skills-Based Approaches Can Drive  Organizational Transformation

By Vinay Pradhan, Country Manager of India at Udemy

The era of AI has dawned, with generative AI in particular reshaping our perception and execution of work. Leaders are tasked with propelling this transformation forward, necessitating a deep understanding of generative AI (GenAI) fundamentals, and a shift in the way they upskill and reskill their workforce.  

It's imperative for organizations and their leaders to proactively equip employees with the requisite skills to navigate this era, lest they risk falling behind. The crucial skills for this period not only target GenAI proficiency but also leadership skills essential for steering teams through the profound workplace transformations underway. Because of the importance of skills to this transformation, many leaders are focused on the transition to a skills-based organization, one that leverages skills through its talent processes, resulting in a more agile and flexible workforce. For instance, skills-based organizations don’t rely solely on degrees and past experience for their hiring and promotion decisions, but rather on verified skills. 

Skill development is key to realizing the potential of AI’s impact: According to a McKinsey report, GenAI can potentially add $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion in productivity value across industries, increasing the impact of all AI by 15 to 40% and unleashing 35-70% productivity gains to drive transformative impact. It could also enable labor productivity growth of 0.1 to 0.6 percent annually through 2040 and lead to the creation of jobs, depending on the rate of technology adoption and redeployment of worker time into other activities.

Leveraging GenAI’s potential 

According to the  Udemy 2024 Global Learning and Skills Trends Report, three out of five business executives already say new technologies, especially AI and automation, are a primary driver of their organisation adopting a skills-based approach to workforce development and learning. Understandably, the global IT spend is projected at $5 trillion in 2024, which is a 6.6% increase from 2023. A Gartner report states that this will be the year when organisations will invest in planning for how best to use GenAI. In a survey of over 1,400 C-suite executives on the potential to profit with GenAI, 51% said AI was their top priority investment in 2024, while 38% of CFOs increased spend on improving skills in 2023. 

This rising demand for skills has led to an increase in enrollments in GenAI and ChatGPT courses. Udemy’s report shows a 60% increase in AI-related training on the Udemy platform over the past year. Demand for ChatGPT courses alone surged by a staggering 5,226% in Q1 2023, indicating how organisations are prioritising the acquisition of AI skills to bolster business outcomes. Demonstrating the broad-based appeal of AI learning, the top industries empowering employees with GenAI skills included Professional Services, Consulting Services, Technology, Manufacturing, Retail and Financial Services. 

Learning through Use Cases

Though most organizations recognize the need to upskill on AI and leadership, skill development may not look the same for every worker or every sector. This is why it's crucial to establish structured learning paths that cater to various skill levels and roles within the company. Here, I’ll outline a comprehensive framework for addressing urgent skilling use cases across different domains.

Organization-wide Understanding: To lay a strong foundation, employees should first grasp the fundamentals of generative artificial intelligence and prompt engineering. This includes understanding the basics of AI models, their applications across various business functions, and ethical considerations surrounding their use.

Emerging Technical Acumen: Some more technical employees need to stay abreast of the latest advancements in AI and machine learning models, as well as other emerging technologies. This involves upskilling in model configuration, data management practices, and leveraging these technologies for product innovation.

Productivity and Role-Based Skills: Effective communication, presentation, time management, project management, and domain-specific skills are essential for boosting productivity and fulfilling role requirements. Employees across functions such as marketing, sales, customer service, finance, HR, and general administration can benefit from honing these skills, all of which can help to fulfill the potential of generative AI.

Transformation Leadership: Leadership plays a pivotal role in driving organizational transformation. Leaders should possess a solid understanding of GenAI technology basics, develop strategies for its implementation, and be adept at identifying risks and opportunities in the rapidly evolving tech landscape. Additionally, they must excel in leading teams through change, and fostering a culture of continuous learning and adaptation.

By implementing structured learning paths that encompass these key areas, organisations can ensure their workforce remains agile, innovative, and well-equipped to tackle the challenges of the digital age.

Adapting to the Rise of GenAI

To successfully navigate the GenAI transformation, it is essential for organisations, learning leaders, and employees to adopt a skills-based learning approach. By gaining insights into skills that are being learned as well as understanding which skills are required to address gaps, learning programs can more readily support strategic organizational goals. 

As part of our continued investment in learning, at the Tamil Nadu Global Investor Meet, Udemy pledged to establish an R&D center in Chennai, partnering with the government to hire over 200 tech professionals, and fostering local talent in emerging technical fields. The establishment of the R&D center aligns with Udemy and Tamil Nadu’s commitment to bridging the skills gap in the rapidly evolving landscape of GenAI.

There is one thing we all can agree on - GenAI is here to stay, and its impact on the workplace will be profound. With a skills-based approach, we can all realize its immense potential. 

 


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