Mind the Gap: How Outsourcing Accelerates An AI-Ready Workforce

Over 80% of global businesses already use or consider AI in their operations – that’s over 266 million worldwide.

Now multiply that by the number of people within those business operations needing to optimize their ability to use the AI tools and systems provided in their everyday work, and the impact of AI on the everyday workforce is seismic.

But, as with all things seismic, this begins with the shifting of massive tectonic plates. In this case, the first tectonic plate is the accelerated adoption of AI systems and automation by organizations of every size and shape. The second is the disposition, aptitude, and capability of the employees within those organizations to engage with and embrace all things AI.

Unsurprisingly, at the heart of this tectonic shift lie a few tension points:

First, the unease that the very mention of AI brings to ordinary workers, the friction and resistance that it creates, and embracing AI becomes all the more problematic. A recent Microsoft study found that 49% of people say they’re worried AI will replace their jobs.

Avanade Trendlines also found that 48% of organizations do not yet have specific guidelines and/or policies for ‘responsible AI’ in effect. Meanwhile, 64% of business and IT leaders are not completely confident that their organization currently has sufficient checks and balances in place to mitigate the potential risks and harms of AI. 

The greatest tension point in terms of ‘right here, right now’ practicalities is this: for the 82% of businesses using or exploring AI as part of their operations, only 35% of them are actively training up or reskilling their people to use AI or automated tools.

When viewed through that lens, the complexity and shifting sands involved in managing the AI surface in any organization become all too clear, as does the gap the tectonic shift is leaving in its wake.

So, back to those reticent employees needing upskilling and the desire to grab the operational and commercial gains of AI immediately.

You can find intensive live training for individuals or organizations looking to upskill for AI. But even with the best forms of upskilling, the ability to take up the challenge of getting everyone AI savvy will always come down to budget, time, or – usually – both.

If you take a medium-sized organization, even with the leanest and most focused upskilling programs, you’ll need to do it in phases, and that takes time. If you’re a smaller company, the cost of upskilling all your people may well be punitive.

But given the increasing pressure most workforce leaders feel under shrinking budgets coupled with record-breaking targets, the need to optimize AI to stay competitive, grow capability, and transform value needs to be acted upon much sooner rather than later.

Therein lies the gap: the space between your desire to optimize AI in your operation and your ability to realize that desire in real terms.

This is where smart bespoke outsourcing can come to the rescue.

The intelligent outsourcing of AI-ready talent to plug capability and opportunity gaps might just be the answer to bring your desire to realization. But what gives global outsourced talent permission to ‘own’ this role in accelerating AI in organizations? The simple truth is that AI is already hardwired into almost every aspect and layer of their lives.

Unlike many in-house employees, the vast majority of outsourced talent (predominantly 35 years and below) have spent much of their professional lifetimes in the AI world, operating remotely across multiple AI-fuelled teams and share platforms and utilizing multiple AI-driven tools to operate.

What’s more, outsourcing offers a streamlined way to tap into specialized AI expertise and talent where it's most abundant. India, for instance, boasts a rich concentration of AI-ready talent and AI-specific professionals, including top researchers. By leveraging global outsourcing solutions, you can access this diverse talent pool without the need to establish a legal entity, ensuring immediate and seamless integration of expertise into your workforce.

In this way, if curated, organized, and managed properly, they constitute a ‘standing army’ of AI-ready workers able to bridge the gap in the short- to mid-term while organizations take the proper amount of time to both build an AI-first culture strategy and the upskilling program required to deliver it.

We specialize in creating custom-built outsourced teams that seamlessly integrate with your in-house operations. By tapping into a global talent pool of over 10 million professionals, we curate teams tailored to your specific AI needs.

Whether you're looking for customer support reps with AI proficiency or specialist machine engineers, we ensure that each team is uniquely suited to your business goals. Every AI implementation is different, and your team should reflect that uniqueness to drive maximum impact.

Book a call to learn more about Work for Impact