3 Takeaways on Building an Effective Digital Skills Program for AI Transformation

A recent survey of 750+ tech executives by Coursera and Amazon Web Services (AWS) reveals that keeping pace with technology is the number one driver of urgency for skills development. Within three years, technology leaders expect AI to automate up to half of their team’s tasks and assist with 50% of their codebase.

This dramatic leap makes investing in talent development a critical business need, especially considering that 88% of tech leaders agree their AI transformation goals will not succeed without a greater investment in talent development.

To explore this challenge, Coursera brought together experts for The Transformation Toolkit: How to Build Digital Skills That Power an AI-Ready Enterprise, a discussion moderated by Coursera’s Chief Learning Officer, Trena Minudri:

• Liz Bryson, Head of the Digital Learning Institute, Sanofi

• Valerie Singer, General Manager, AWS Global Education

Here’s a look at some of the key takeaways from the discussion:

1. The L&D/tech partnership is the key to unlocking transformation

The report found a key disconnect: 63% of tech leaders feel their non-technical peers underestimate the resources needed for AI transformation. The panelists agreed that L&D must bridge this gap by building trust and moving from a service provider to a strategic partner.

Expert insights:

• Liz Bryson, Sanofi: “Building trust is all about time...Bringing curiosity, asking questions, and not just talking about goals and vision...but really getting down and understanding the technology that our technical teams are trying to get their arms around. What are they trying to tackle?”

• Valerie Singer, AWS: “[Successful companies have] an acknowledgment that at all levels of the organization, we need to build digital fluency, AI literacy, and data fluency...[Goldman Sachs] has broken down the silos by ensuring that everybody has base data and AI literacy, no matter your position within the company.”

2. Successful AI strategies are built on a foundational skill set

While many organizations are rushing to adopt AI, the report found that leaders are prioritizing foundational skills in cloud, data, and cybersecurity alongside AI. Both panelists confirmed that this “foundations-first” approach is the recommended course for building a sustainable AI strategy.

Expert insights:

• Valerie Singer, AWS: “You would have expected that AI would have blown the doors off of this trends report, but actually there are a couple of different foundational skills that need to be taught for it first, and cloud is one of them. Data literacy is one of them, and a third is cyber, which makes complete sense.”

• Liz Bryson, Sanofi: “There's a lot of excitement out there right now. [Learners] come to us talking about AI and we take a step back and it's really about focusing and making sure our technical teams are solid on cloud, cloud engineering, cybersecurity, data management, and DevOps. These are the core skills that we need to prepare and to be ready.”

3. “Hands-on” learning is the non-negotiable for making skills stick

For technical teams, passive learning is not enough. The report found that 60% of leaders value hands-on practice, which the speakers identified as the key to building real capability, driving adoption, and ensuring learners are confident applying new skills in a production environment.

Expert insights:

• Liz Bryson, Sanofi: “I think it's almost a non-negotiable for technical teams. If they're learning a new skill, they want to be in a sandbox. They want to be in a safe environment and playing...that's also a safe environment before you're bringing it into production environments in our jobs.”

• Valerie Singer, AWS: “We knew that to demonstrate capability is far more tangible and impactful than just saying that you can do it. When they get into a real working environment, if they can't demonstrate their learning, then you're training on the job. And that wastes time, it wastes transformation time.”

Success in the age of AI hinges on a strategic and collaborative approach to skills development. By building a strong partnership between L&D and tech, prioritizing foundational skills, and insisting on hands-on learning, organizations can empower their workforce to adapt, innovate, and thrive.