Can apprenticeships get your business AI-ready?

The UK has been battling a severe digital skills shortage over the last decade, costing the economy a staggering £63 billion per year. The problem has grown thanks to the recent boom in machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) and the rapid adoption of new tech like Generative AI.

AI is expected to create 97 million jobs by the end of 2025. Interestingly, despite the growing demand for AI skills, there aren’t enough human resources to match these skills requirements. In fact, a Deloitte study revealed that there are only 22,000 AI specialists globally.

To corroborate this further, a recent FDM survey found that 48% of businesses don’t have the specialist skills to maximise AI.

Businesses looking to stay competitive must keep up with the pace of innovation. And to do so, they need to future-proof their workforce by training and upskilling employees in the latest tech, with a focus on data and AI skills.

Tapping into early talent in particular is imperative to stay ahead of the curve.  Here’s why:

Early talent

Gen Z (the generation born between 1997 and 2012) is expected to comprise 25% of the global workforce by 2025.

Further, our whitepaper on Unlocking Gen Z’s workplace potential reveals that 66.4% of Gen Z are dissatisfied with the available learning resources at their companies. This highlights the importance of providing training that is aligned to the expectations of a growth-oriented, tech-savvy workforce.

Sheila Flavell CBE, Chief Operating Officer, FDM Group says:

“Building a UK-wide workforce of AI experts also relies on tapping into underrepresented talent pools who each present unique, transferrable skill sets. Those who possess the skills and aptitude for AI are key to future implementation projects, so businesses should support them with training and reskilling opportunities.”

Apprenticeships

Apprentices are one such demographic of early talent that continues to be largely untapped. They are an excellent way to build a workforce with Net New Talent that is custom-made to meet specific business needs.

The training and development of this Net New Talent can simultaneously fill the digital skills gap, provide opportunities to under-represented sections of society, and regulate cost to companies.

Over the last few years, the UK government has amplified its commitment to ramp up apprenticeship programmes. This has resulted in a year-on-year increase in the number of apprenticeship starts.

In the academic year 2023/24, there were 339,580 apprenticeship starts, an increase of 0.7% from 2022/2023.

There are various apprenticeship levels available that equate to different qualification levels, ranging from Level 1 (GCSE Pass) to Level 5/7 (bachelor’s and master’s degree). In 2023/24 the starts at Level 6 and 7 increased by over 7% to 50,110.

The FDM Apprenticeship Programme was launched in September 2020. It has grown to a current headcount of 31 across all areas of the IT estate and wider business departments, and with our partners across the public sector, financial services, and tech firms.

Our three-year programme combines a degree, work and training, and is equivalent to a Level 6. Apprentices are paid a salary, with four days a week at either an FDM centre or client sites to develop real-world experience while working towards a BSc degree in areas such as Digital Technology Solutions.

Working in AI

Some of our apprentices are currently working on a range of AI projects for clients – an affordable option for organisations looking to plug a junior talent gap within AI.

Laurence Bedford opted for our FDM Apprenticeship Programme and has been working for a leading health insurance client for the past year.

Talking about his role, he said:

“AI is a huge part of my role, and I’ve been helping the company develop a long-term AI strategy. I had the privilege of presenting strategic AI thinking to C-suite, which was a great experience – I’m excited to see what they take from it and how we can continue to integrate AI.”

Given the broad remit of AI, there are multi-tiered roles and skills requirements within it. From use case identification to data cleansing, data governance, AI ethics, AI and machine learning specialisms, prompt engineering and more.

Naturally, this requires a mix of junior and experienced talent.

Kate Hawthorn, Director of Consultant Talent, FDM Group believes:

“With technology evolving at such pace, it’s imperative that businesses have the right blend of experienced professionals and entry-level talent to future-proof organisations against new technologies such as generative AI. Apprenticeships provide the ideal talent pipeline for businesses to do this, and they can play a vital role in contributing to the understanding of the role and application of AI within the organisation.” 

At FDM, our consultants have been working in varied roles within the AI space.

Norbert Csecs works as an AI Integration Specialist for a global private healthcare insurance company. In this role, he supports the client with Copilot for M365 rollout mainly in admin, risk management, training, and ROI measurement, providing daily support. While on assignment, he became a subject matter expert on LLMs (large language models) to drive the adoption of the latest Microsoft CoPilot AI services.

Another FDM Consultant Aaron Morgan and his team recently created an AI chatbot for a public sector client which can parse through their Annual Assurance Reports to return unique and insightful responses to user queries.

“A recent AI chatbot project has been very interesting as I have had the opportunity to utilise the power of AI to fulfil unique client requirements,” Aaron said.

At FDM, AI skills are considered a core capability. As such, it’s a key feature across our five Practices. Our AI Engineers can support with Prompt Engineering to building custom AI solutions for your business.

Saif Uddin is another FDM Apprentice who now works at one the UK’s largest retailers:

“I joined during the rollout of CoPilot, and I’ve been helping colleagues learn the tool. Working hands-on with AI has taught me a lot – I’m literally working at the forefront of business development.” 

How apprentices can help businesses

Alexander Elliot, Head of Data, AI and Innovation, FDM Group shares his insights on how businesses may get value from young talent in the AI space:

“I foresee businesses being able to leverage apprentices in a variety of ways to support their AI objectives. Consultants can provide an immediate impact by supporting the adoption and literacy of staff utilising Generative AI products, ensuring the workforce are supported and armed with the skills they need to get the best from Generative AI. Like with FDM’s traditional recruitment model, apprentices could also provide a pipeline of talent to support in-house AI projects and products through a number of roles in the domains of machine learning, engineering, and data sciences.”

The rising cost of university fees, currently standing at over £9000 per year in the UK, is a significant barrier for a lot of young people thinking of pursuing higher education. For them and others, apprenticeships offer an alternate route that provides the best of both worlds – hands-on work experience and a university degree at the end of the apprenticeship programme – without the looming burden of student debt.

By providing access to skills training and employment opportunities to a broader cross-section of society, apprenticeships ultimately contribute to a more diverse and inclusive economy.

In conclusion

Smart businesses shouldn’t entrust their AI capabilities to just a few specialists. Instead, training in AI should be done at scale. Apprenticeships help build new talent pipelines, equipped with skills to match new and evolving technologies.

The global AI market was valued at USD 136.55 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37.3% from 2023 to 2030. This stat shows that the future of tech is likely to be dominated by AI. Each new innovation will create new job roles to match. The biggest surge in roles will arguably be those to develop, implement, and manage AI and its related capabilities.

Has your business joined the AI revolution?

Book a discovery call to find out how our multi-level talent can facilitate your AI adoption and transform your business.