The UK tech sector stands at a crossroads. On one hand, we are seeing ambitious investments in emerging technologies, particularly AI, cloud computing, and cybersecurity. On the other hand, a significant disconnect grows between the pace of innovation and the digital capabilities of the current workforce. According to a 2024 study by the University of Birmingham’s City-REDI institute if left unaddressed, digital skills shortages could cost the UK economy up to £27.6 billion by 2030, with over 380,000 full-time jobs potentially at risk. Recent insights from O’Reilly reinforce this urgency, revealing that one in three UK workers say opportunities for…
Alexia Pedersen
Alexia Pedersen
Alexia leads the International team at O’Reilly, and is responsible for creating and delivering value to their customers. With over 20 years’ experience in the technology sector, Alexia has a passion and interest in learning for the enterprise and brings extensive knowledge of working with large organisations to implement learning at scale to deliver successful outcomes.
As the UK government rolls out its ambitious AI Opportunity Action Plan to enable greater implementation of new technologies to boost economic growth, it faces a critical challenge: ensuring every industry is prepared for this seismic shift. Interestingly, both UK employers and employees are aligned on the importance of education to bridge the gap between implementation and innovation. According to our 2025 Technology Trends Report – with insights into the most popular technology topics consumed by our 2.8 million users – demand for AI-related learning materials surged in 2024, particularly courses relating to prompt engineering courses (+456%) and GenAI (+289%).…