Workforce Development and Upskilling
AI-SDM is empowering the existing workforce with the critical knowledge and skills needed to thrive as AI becomes more integrated into our everyday lives and work. Our approach involves actively engaging with industry and public sector organizations to understand their specific needs and challenges. Through stakeholder dialogue sessions, we are gathering valuable insights from AI-SDM collaborators to inform our training initiatives. We are developing targeted educational modules and workshops, including an upcoming AI education workshop held in partnership with the Corporate Startup Lab at CMU in Fall 2025, where we will employ a "train the trainer" model to maximize our impact. Our ultimate goal is to build towards offering modular certificates, providing professionals with recognized credentials in key areas of AI and its societal implications.
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Engaging with Stakeholders to Shape AI Upskilling
We believe that effective workforce upskilling in artificial intelligence and data science must be grounded in a deep understanding of the real-world challenges and opportunities faced by adopting organizations. Our commitment begins with active and in-depth engagements with industry leaders, public sector agencies, and frontline workers to identify their specific needs, knowledge gaps, and aspirations for AI integration. By fostering open dialogue and actively listening to the experiences and insights of those on the ground, we ensure that our educational initiatives are not only relevant but also truly transformative. We conduct focused dialogues with key stakeholders, such as state emergency management agencies and humanitarian organizations, to align our AI education efforts with their critical training pathways.
Upskilling Workshops
To maximize the reach and impact of AI education, our core strategy is empowering individuals within organizations to become AI literacy champions. This "train the trainer" principle guides many of our initiatives, ensuring a sustainable and scalable culture of understanding and engagement with artificial intelligence across all levels of organizations. We put this model into practice through partnerships with local libraries, providing comprehensive AI and data science training for staff, equipping them with foundational knowledge and practical tools to strengthen community AI literacy. Through engagement with the Tepper School of Business, we plan to scale this approach by equipping business leaders with practical curriculum and resources they can disseminate within their organizations, amplifying our reach and impact across various sectors.
Modular Certificate Programs
Ongoing engagements with industry leaders have highlighted a lack of clear accreditation standards for AI skills, leading to confusion among employers in evaluating candidate qualifications amidst a growing number of certificates and modular courses. Corporate leaders have expressed a need for reliable methods to assess AI proficiency and understand an applicant's practical capabilities. To meet this need, we plan to provide recognized credentials in specific areas of AI and its societal implications. These targeted certifications will be designed to offer employers a more reliable benchmark for evaluating skills and expertise, helping to distinguish qualified professionals in a rapidly evolving field. Furthermore, these programs will provide clarity and value for both individuals and organizations in understanding AI proficiency.
AI-SDM is one of the National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes funded by the NSF. Award number: 2229881. More information on existing AI institutes and related efforts is available at aiinstitutes.org.