Aligning Industry Needs and Education: Unlocking the Potential of AI via Skills

This study explores the impending impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on work environments, forecasting significant shifts in the skill sets of emerging talents across various industries over the next decade. Despite AI's technological strides, industry's lags in the data management and utilization capabilities. A significant obstacle to innovation is the shortage of a skilled workforce. This paper highlights the necessity to develop comprehensive skill sets across all organizational tiers to unlock data utility and to fully leverage AI's potential to the products, processes and services. Drawing on datasets from Finland, the paper elucidates the current state and needs of the manufacturing industry and identifies pressing skill requirements. It argues that companies aiming for a leading position in the AI era must focus on updating skills and consider collaboration with universities to synchronize educational curricula with forthcoming industry requirements. For this purpose, paper addresses views of business and ICT lecturers regarding AI skills development. The paper continues to propose examples of learning environments supporting reskilling and upskilling initiatives, ensuring a smooth industry transition to meet the evolving exigencies of the AI landscape.