Automation and Artificial Intelligence are some of the biggest buzzwords today and for good reason: broad application and rapid expansion. According to a Global Artificial Intelligence study, by 2030, AI will lead to an estimated $15.7 trillion increase in global GDP, that’s just over 25%! While automation and AI will inevitably overtake some jobs and functions, The World Economic Forum estimates that in the next 5 years technology will create at least 12 million more jobs than it absorbs. Net positive job creation sounds great, but these jobs aren’t run of the mill and easy to come by. Automation roles require technology-savvy individuals and domain-specific knowledge. The challenge today is that traditional education avenues are not designed to keep up with emerging technology, specified boot camps are hard to come by and typically expensive, and proficiency resides within a limited number of experts. In the next few sections, we will cover the importance of democratizing this knowledge to reduce the digital divide, and some of the steps Reveal Group takes to make this a reality.

Gaining New Skills

Continuous learning and improvement are undoubtedly important, but there is an alarming concern growing between job openings and skilled workforce. There is a constant struggle for organizations to find skilled and qualified employees and a lack of training opportunities available for individuals. In a 2022 study compiled by Salesforce, nearly three-quarters of respondents (73%) don’t feel equipped to learn the digital skills needed by businesses now, and even more (76%) don’t feel equipped for the future. Clearly, there is a disconnect between organizations’ necessity and the availability of highly skilled individuals.

This is one of the reasons Reveal Group focuses so deeply on training and building capability within our team and our clients. When we think of learning at an organizational level, it generally boils down to two main concepts: upskill & augment and self-sufficiency.

Upskill & Augment

Most commonly, upskilling refers to the concept of acquiring new skills. The need for upskilling is exacerbated by innovation, digital transformation, and the constant mutation of “efficient ways of working”. We generally see this in the form of clients and individuals seeking a more modern approach to work, looking for a partner to help augment their current operations and coach them to work harmoniously alongside automated future states.

Self-sufficiency

Developing skills to work hand-in-hand with automations or perform new functions is essential in training plans, however, another common component is the notion of self-sufficiency. Awareness and the ability to understand automation is the first step, but clients and individuals having the skills and autonomy to manage their own automated future is equally, if not more, important. This includes the ability to build, govern, and enhance future-state processes independently.

In either case, the key to enabling a successful automated future relies on training and capability building. Organizations and individuals that strive to continuously learn and improve their digital capabilities will see further success in the future, especially as our workforce becomes even more complementary with machines. The major hurdle is how to get access to this specialized knowledge and receive training to reduce the skills gap. Enter Reveal Group.

Reveal Group’s Approach to Reducing the Digital Divide

Recognizing a large gap in skills and proficiency in AI and automation, Reveal Group offers several different channels to provide capability advancement.

1.      Reveal Group University (Onboarding)

When new hires join Reveal Group, a large focus is applied to onboarding and enablement. Our team comes from diverse backgrounds and numerous different industries; in some cases, intelligent automation may not be part of their resume. Our focus is on building capability at the highest level and enabling our team members to become professional practitioners. New hires undergo an intensive 2-week ‘University’ where they will complete professional developer certifications in major automation platforms, learn the basics of our automation delivery lifecycle, and complete numerous more training exercises. Our goal is to ensure our team has a deep knowledge and understanding of our technology partner ecosystem to pay it forward by supporting our clients.

2.      Reveal Group at Universities (Continued Education)

Reveal Group recognizes the importance of accessibility to training offerings and has partnered with major Canadian universities to offer an Intelligent Automation course in their Continuing Education programs. The course is a 2-month training hosted once a week to provide conceptual and practical learning elements of intelligent automation, and how this can be applied within the workforce. Our highly-skilled Reveal Group team members serve as the instructors for the course and bring a level of real-world insight into the lecture. Not only are the basics of automation covered in the syllabus, but guest lecturers and cutting-edge adjacent technologies are highlighted to provide even further practical experience. This offering is open to any aspiring developers or automation aficionados and is one of the many offerings Reveal Group provides to help build highly-skilled individuals within the marketplace.

3.      Reveal Group Training Academy (Client-based Training)

For enterprise clients, Reveal Group offers classroom or virtual training in the form of our Training Academy. The Training Academy is modeled after the world-class upskilling our internal team undergoes in an expedited format. The main difference is the Training Academy is tailored to our client requirements to provide foundational training in the platform most relevant to their environment. The Academy offers initial training to enable client resources to familiarize themselves with automation, and practitioner training to upskill future developers. Additionally, there is role-based training courses intended to provide guidance at every step and level of the automation program. A dedicated and experienced Reveal Group team member leads this to train our clients with the same quality and rigor as our internal consultants.

4.      Reveal Group Mentored Delivery (Hands-on Client Training)

Additionally, for Reveal Group clients, we offer a mentored delivery approach to provide hands-on coaching when building capabilities. In the offerings, the training stopped before application. In this case, the Mentored Delivery is a multi-week mentored development wave to embed an industry leading delivery methodology and reinforce best-practice development. Regular ‘Masterclass’ sessions will reinforce key areas of importance as they are encountered in practice. Masterclasses typically include a review of previous work, guidance on development standards and documentation, and many more ad hoc topics. We recommend client resources begin with less complex processes to progress their capability and move from theoretical to hands-on, real-world development experience, however, we are with them through every step to clear all hurdles. A Reveal Group team member will serve as the mentor and guide clients through their first automation delivery to accelerate their capability development.

Acquiring Technical Skills for the Future

As organizations and individuals embrace digital transformation, the need for upskilling and capability building is apparent. Employees require updated skills to keep up with their new roles and knowledge of working alongside new technology. The digital age requires that workers, regardless of the industry vertical, have technical skills and the ability to acquire new capabilities to keep up with the rapidly advancing marketplace. Reveal Group strives to play a role in bringing these skilled individuals to the market.

Have questions or looking for more information on our training courses? Contact our team