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A new report published by Skills England uncovers the scale of the AI skills shortfall and introduces three tools designed to help businesses of all sizes get ready.

Skills England unveils new AI Skills Framework, Adoption Pathway and Employer Checklist to support wider and more responsible AI use.

Digital skills are the foundation of the modern workplace. Without accessible and inclusive training routes, people and businesses risk being left behind and missing out on AI’s true potential. For example, in the creative sector, AI-powered content creation is taking off, but many freelancers and smaller employers are using these tools without having formal training, raising questions around quality, authenticity and originality. In advanced manufacturing, AI is showing up in predictive maintenance and robotics, yet the sector is being hindered by a lack of fresh AI talent. An underlying issue is that many SMEs struggle to even define what AI skills they need.

To help bridge this divide, Skills England is rolling out three practical tools:

• AI Skills Framework – A detailed map of the technical, “responsible AI” and other non-technical competencies needed at different job levels and roles.
• AI Skills Adoption Pathway – A model showing how organisations typically progress in AI adoption: from curiosity and initial experimentation all the way to strategic scaling.
• Employer AI Adoption Checklist – A pragmatic guide for employers: helping them audit their readiness, spot skill gaps in their workforce, and determine where training and support are needed.

These resources are especially aimed at smaller businesses, which often do not have large HR teams or dedicated training functions. But techUK recommends companies of all size to use the Employer AI Adoption Checklist to assess where they are today. Companies need to understand what AI skills their team lacks and should consider where on the Adoption Pathway their organisation currently stands — whether they are still exploring or ready to scale. The AI Skills Framework is a valuable resource to help identify the skills their workforce needs, extending beyond technical capabilities to include ethical, responsibility, and change-management dimensions.

techUK was grateful for the opportunity to participate in the AI Skills Inequality Expert Focus Group workshop. The session allowed us to share insights from across the technology sector and contribute to shaping the findings that informed Skills England’s resources. By providing perspectives from both large and smaller organisations, we were able to help ensure the resulting tools address practical challenges in developing AI skills across the workforce.

Since the AI Opportunities Action Plan was published in January, much progress has been made, including the announcement of a new government-industry partnership to upskill and train 7.5 million UK workers in essential skills to use AI by 2030, equivalent to around 20% of the UK workforce. techUK members including Google, Microsoft, IBM, SAS, Accenture, Sage, BT, Amazon, Intuit, and Salesforce have signed up to the partnership. They have committed to making high-quality training materials freely available for businesses of all sizes to support the upskilling and training of their staff.

And yet one year on, access to AI talent is still a pressing AI bottleneck. What is also clear is that the next chapter in taking the AI Action Plan forward is moving from vision to value: that is why we are hosting an event exploring one year on from the AI Opportunities Action Plan, including a panel on Bridging the Talent Gap — From Plan to Pipeline. Panellists will explore whether we effectively focusing on the right needs across the education stack from primary, secondary, university, in the workplace and beyond.