What happened
Pearson CEO Omar Abbosh advocates for company leaders to become "AI chief education officers," shifting focus from job elimination to human-AI augmentation. Pearson expands its enterprise learning division, traditionally vocational qualifications, into corporate AI reskilling, pitching a "DEEP framework" and "learning cartridges" for embedded, in-workflow training. This move targets what Abbosh calls "pure upside and growth" in a market where 80% of Pearson's earnings currently derive from skill assessment, partnering with IBM, Cognizant, and AI hyperscalers.
Why it matters
Companies face pressure to re-evaluate AI deployment strategies, shifting from automation-driven cost cuts to human-AI augmentation. CEOs, now acting as chief education officers, must prioritise continuous, embedded learning over traditional training to integrate AI effectively. This approach, which Pearson claims offers "trillions of dollars of economic upside," counters the limited productivity gains from simply replacing human roles with AI agents. Procurement teams evaluating AI solutions must scrutinise vendor claims, focusing on verifiable skill enhancement and avoiding "techlash" risks from disempowered employees.
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