AI is reshaping industries, transforming how we work, and creating new possibilities for businesses and workers across the economy. This presents a significant opportunity for the UK to realise its ambition of achieving the fastest AI adoption rate in the G7 — its workforce needs the skills to keep pace.
The good news is that demand is strong. Adobe research reveals 65% of UK job seekers said AI skills are essential to landing their dream job, and 44% cited creativity as a must-have skill for the future. But supply hasn’t kept up: 18% of UK workers currently lack essential digital skills, and closing that gap could add £400 billion to UK GDP.
That’s the challenge the UK Government’s AI Skills Boost was built to address — offering free AI training, with a target of equipping 10 million workers with essential AI skills by 2030. As announced during this year’s London Tech Week, Adobe is joining the programme as a new strategic partner.
Making AI accessible to all
As the company behind the world’s leading AI tools to boost creativity and productivity, Adobe’s mission is to empower everyone to create. Our global skilling initiative – Adobe Digital Academy – aims to equip 30 million learners and teachers with the AI literacy, content creation and digital marketing skills they need to thrive in the modern workforce.
Taking learning out of the classroom and into the hands of learners everywhere, Adobe Digital Academy delivers AI courses that everyone can access on Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, YouTube and IBM SkillsBuild, so they can learn at their own pace and on their own terms.
Today’s strategic partnership announcement will bring Digital Academy courses and learning modules to UK learners for free through the government’s AI Skills Hub.
Partnering with government to empower the future workforce
Adobe is no stranger to working together with the UK government and other governments around the world to help communities build AI skills.
As a founding partner for the Tech Towns initiative in Barnsley, Adobe is helping colleges, businesses and community organisations develop AI, digital and creative skills that deliver real impact to local people.
Internationally, Adobe announced a strategic investment in India’s next generation of creative talent, making tools including Adobe Firefly, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Acrobat freely available to students through accredited higher education institutions; while in the US, partnerships with the White House Task Force on AI Education and the state of California are putting free, classroom-ready AI tools into the hands of K-12 students and teachers, with training resources for their teachers alongside them.
Driving adoption through skills programmes
AI skills are the foundation of the UK's AI ambition. By bringing together government leadership, industry expertise and accessible learning opportunities, programmes like AI Skills Boost are how that ambition becomes reality — one learner, one business, one community at a time. Adobe is committed to helping achieve that goal, and to ensuring that the creative and digital skills that will define the next era of the UK economy are within reach for everyone.
