IBM and Pearson to Tackle AI Skills Gap With watsonx

A partnership between IBM and Pearson aims to address a US$1.1tn gap in the US economy, which IBM and Pearson have identified as being caused by skills mismatches and inefficient career changes.

As AI continues to reshape the workplace at a pace that outstrips the workforce's ability to retrain, the collaboration will focus on building AI-powered learning products.

The agreement places IBM’s watsonx Orchestrate and watsonx Governance technologies at the core of new tools designed for businesses, public sector organisations and education providers.

According to research from Pearson, employers and workers require quicker pathways to acquire new skills as AI continues to alter the fundamentals of many job roles. Data from Equinix found that 67% of UK IT decision-makers see personnel shortages as a major threat to their business. In that same study, 61% acknowledged that the issue has been made worse by the speed of technological change.

Leveraging watsonx for corporate learning

Under the agreement, IBM is set to build a custom AI platform for Pearson. This platform will be based on IBM Consulting Advantage, a framework combining AI assistants with human expertise. Pearson plans to use this new platform to launch a suite of products and reform its internal operations with a focus on workflow productivity and data-driven decision-making.

“Technology is evolving faster than human skills can keep pace,” explains Omar Abbosh, CEO of Pearson.

Omar adds: “To close this gap, learning must be embedded seamlessly into the flow of work. When people learn where work happens, it has an immediate impact on productivity and performance.”

The partnership makes Pearson the primary strategic partner for IBM in the area of upskilling and workforce transformation. As part of the deal, IBM’s 270,000 employees and its customer base will get access to Pearson’s enterprise learning solutions.

These include Credly for digital credentials, Faethm for workforce planning and Pearson Professional Assessments, which is the current provider for IBM’s global professional certification exams.

Verification tools for AI agent deployment

A key part of the collaboration will be the development of tools to verify the capabilities of AI agents before they are deployed by organisations.

As autonomous AI agents begin to handle more business tasks, this verification system would combine IBM’s knowledge of AI systems with Pearson’s background in assessment credentialing and skills verification.

This approach could give organisations more confidence when deploying autonomous agents in their operations.

The need for such tools is underlined by market projections. According to McKinsey, demand for workers with AI skills is expected to outpace supply by a factor of two to four, a gap that could persist until at least 2027. A ManpowerGroup survey of more than 40,000 employers found that 74% have difficulty finding skilled talent, with 60% pointing to skills gaps as a barrier to their digital strategies.

“Whether you’re leading a company or just graduating, everyone needs to build new skills for the AI era,” says Arvind Krishna, CEO of IBM.

Arvind adds: “IBM and Pearson are bringing AI-powered education to more organisations to help people learn faster.”

Hiring priorities shift towards AI skills

The agreement is a component of Pearson’s wider strategy to engage with select partners on joint product and market initiatives.

The learning tools developed through this partnership will be launched globally, targeting organisations that are trying to address skills gaps created by the impact of AI. The platform is designed to integrate learning into daily work patterns.

This change is reflected in current hiring trends. Research from the training platform Revature shows that 77% of US organisations have been negatively affected by the IT skills gap, with 56% making upskilling or reskilling their main priority.

The survey also found that 29% of respondents ranked AI, generative AI, and machine learning as the most important capabilities.

Further research from freelance platform Upwork noted that 80% of executives now prioritise skills over degrees when hiring, with half planning to increase freelance hiring to address gaps in AI capabilities.