While the world looks at AI with great apprehension and businesses report their struggles of hiring workers with a solid understanding of AI, the IKEA AI literacy initiative seeks to collaborate with its employees. Recent reports suggest that the company is planning on helping its staff get familiar with AI, introducing the IKEA AI training program to bring its employees on the journey towards AI integration. Regardless of your personal feelings on AI and machine learning, the technology is set to change every aspect of work in the future. Those who choose to make a holistic transition towards AI and replicate IKEA’s AI implementation plans will find themselves well-positioned to navigate the changes set to shake up the many global facets of work.
Image: IKEA
IKEA’s AI Literacy Initiative Is a Testament to Putting the Employees First
IKEA’s AI implementation plans involve training 3,000 workers and 500 leaders to understand artificial intelligence a little better. Workers will be able to avail of a range of courses that should help them feel “empowered to lead into the new age of AI.” The IKEA AI literacy initiative for employees includes training such as Responsible AI, Mastering Gen AI, and Algorithmic Training for Ethics. Leaders will be able to attend training for programs like AI Exploration Days, which should help them envision the company’s business leanings in terms of AI.
The IKEA AI organization-wide initiative is a great example of how the rise of AI does not have to force a business to compromise on growth or retention in order to keep up with the times. It allows employees who are already familiar with their roles to continue working towards the company’s goals while reskilling and catching up to the shifting industry. These trainings are being actively steered by Ingka Group, the largest retailer of IKEA representing about 90 percent of the company’s sales.
Apart from the IKEA AI training program to build the company’s expertise in artificial intelligence, they are equally invested in encouraging eligible candidates to join their Accelerator Programme. Open to those with a PhD in Data Science, Machine Learning, and LLMs, the program aims to add knowledgeable individuals to their talent pool who can be nurtured to grow with the company. A wide-spread program like this is a great way to find the right talent before it becomes critical to fill up a role, allowing their expertise to guide the company forward collaboratively. Both combined, the IKEA AI literacy initiative appears to be a great way for IKEA to give back to its workforce while also keeping an eye on the future of the company.
Emulating the IKEA AI Integration Initiative
Apart from the IKEA AI literacy initiative, the company has also invested heavily in the development of its own AI tool. Hej Copilot is an example of how a company can work towards establishing its own AI identity instead of waiting for a reason to push it to embrace AI, but this may not always be a possibility for every company. As admirable as IKEA’s AI organization-wide initiative is, it’s an expensive investment and will likely take both time and money to fully set into motion. For an average business, training 3,500 workers may be out of the question, but that does not mean they have to give up training entirely.
Whatever a company’s budget is, it’s possible to work on retention as a primary goal to ensure that top talent at the organization has plans to remain with the company for a while. Businesses can then invest in training these employees to improve their understanding of AI. A company can begin by identifying the skill gaps in the organization and selecting department-specific training that might be most appropriate for them. Once the company understands the elements of AI that would be beneficial for each group, key players can be collected for the first stage of training. Over time more people can be included in the program, but the start of training can give you a good idea of what needs to change for it to be better integrated into the company’s systems.
The IKEA AI literacy initiative is only one example of what can be done to keep up with changing times. The future of work is AI-bound and any attempt to narrow the skill gap is a step in the right direction.