Building the AI-ready workforce of tomorrow

The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is fundamentally reshaping industries worldwide and redefining workforce and skill requirements. With AI expected to unlock $15.7 trillion in global economic value by 2030, the adoption of AI has hit unprecedented scale across just about every industry.

While Amazon Web Services (AWS) customers from healthcare to financial industries are rapidly deploying AI services to accelerate their business goals, organizations across all sectors must invest in building both current and future workforce capabilities to truly capitalize on AI’s potential and ensure long-term sustainability.

In this era of rapid technology adoption, higher education institutions face a considerable challenge. They must adopt AI to drive value for their own organization, while also fulfilling their core mission—preparing students for an AI-integrated workforce.

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report revealed that 94 percent of employers believe universities should equip graduates with generative AI skills for entry-level roles, highlighting the urgency of building foundational AI literacy. However, the findings emphasize a crucial balance—while technical skills are essential, human-centered capabilities top the list of core skills, such as resilience, flexibility, agility, and leadership. This dual requirement reflects the ongoing evolution of industries, where organizational success depends on the perfect blend of technical and human skills.

Reimagining higher education for the AI age

What does this mean for higher education institutions? What is a successful formula that builds future-proof graduates? What role does technology play? Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) is demonstrating that taking a holistic approach to prepare its graduates for the workforce of today and the future delivers results with total enrollment increasing 36 percent over the past four years—growth nearly ten times that of peer universities—and undergraduate admissions growing nearly 60 percent in three years.

Illinois Tech’s focus starts with embracing technology within institutions rather than fearing it, becoming “digital first” by incorporating AI in classrooms for personalized tutoring and digitized content production, and laying the foundation for comprehensive AI integration across the institution. For their forward thinking use of AI and cloud technology, Illinois Tech has been named an AWS Champion of 2025.

Dr. Raj Echambadi, President of Illinois Institute of Technology, argues against viewing AI solely as a tool for providing answers. Instead, he advocates seeing AI as a “thought catalyst” that expands intellectual capabilities: “I think of it as an exoskeleton suit for the intellect. The ability to use AI to spark new ideas and expand the scope of human intellect is where its true power lies.”

This framing has strong implications for education and industry. Rather than replacement, the focus is on augmentation—using AI to amplify human capabilities such as creativity or problem-solving. Solutions like Claude for Education exemplify this approach. Claude for Education uses Socratic questioning to guide students toward answers—rather than providing direct responses as a personalized student assistant—while at the same time helping faculty to build teaching material. This level of AI technology integration into day to day life of an institution builds a foundational level of knowledge and organic usage of AI technology.

Balancing technical and human skill development

As AI handles technical tasks, the importance of human skills grows. Dr. Echambadi observes: “You can’t compete with artificial intelligence by out-competing on technical skills alone. What makes us essentially human is what we need to focus on.” He emphasizes collaboration, systems thinking, critical thinking, and engaging with diverse perspectives.

Integration of industry content and credentials into curriculum helps to provide the foundational knowledge to all learners, and AWS Academy provides higher education institutions with a free, ready-to-teach cloud computing curriculum specifically for this purpose.

Illinois Tech has gone a step further in integrating AI and technology foundations into their curriculum with their “Tech Plus” majors, delivering a combination of technical and non-technical disciplines (for example, biology and computer science) without extending time to graduation.

Building on the concept of industry-academic collaboration, AWS has developed the Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance (Tech Alliances) program. The program provides industry-aligned skill pathways that combine technical training with real-world business context, enabling students to learn not just how to use technology, but also how to apply it to solve business challenges. Theory comes to life through hands-on industry learning activities, where students tackle actual business challenges—from developing AI solutions for sustainability to creating cloud-native applications that address specific industry needs. This practical approach helps students build both technical proficiency and business acumen, while creating natural pathways for them to demonstrate their capabilities to potential employers.

Dr. Echambadi highlights experiential and applied learning as key mechanisms for developing a job-ready mix of technical and human skills. At Illinois Tech, student projects are core curriculum components, with interdisciplinary teams tackling complex problems like climate change while building crucial collaboration skills.

Creating real-world learning pathways

Industry-academia collaborations, such as the AWS Tech Alliances, provide students with access to industry-led projects, mentorship opportunities, and hands-on experience with emerging technologies. This comprehensive learning experience develops both technical proficiency and essential human skills.

Success in the AI era requires more than just technological adoption—it demands a reimagining of education and workforce development. And as with other complex, societal issues, collaboration across organizational boundaries is key for creating new pathways for learning and development.

For higher education institutions, the path to success means embracing AI as a technology for institutional success as well as a learning topic for every student, while doubling down on developing the uniquely human skills—creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration—that will define their success in the AI era. This dual approach positions institutions as the architects of tomorrow’s workforce.

As Dr. Echambadi concludes: “I’m very optimistic. I think the world is going to be far better off with artificial intelligence, of course with an ethical perspective.” This optimism, combined with thoughtful implementation and a commitment to human development, points the way toward a future where AI and human potential work in powerful synergy to drive innovation and progress across all sectors of society.

Whether you’re an education leader looking to transform your curriculum and prepare students for success or a business leader seeking to build your future talent pipeline, the opportunity to shape the AI-ready workforce is now.

Start your AI integration journey with Claude for Education, on AWS Marketplace for immediate classroom impact, and check out how to get involved with the AWS Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance to build strategic workforce development pathways. Discover how these complementary solutions can accelerate your organization’s journey toward an AI-enabled future.