Siemens Collaborates with AWS Tech Alliance to Train the Next Generation of Talent in Cloud

From manufacturing, industry, and healthcare to infrastructure and mobility, Siemens helps customers across sectors drive innovation, increase efficiency, and create sustainable solutions. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and data analytics are transforming how these industries operate—and Siemens’ workforce needs skills in emerging technologies to solve today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.

Building cloud skills into early career talent programs was imperative for SPE, Siemens’ global vocational training division. “We continually assess what Siemens needs as a business and what our customers around the globe require,” says Hoffelder. “We partnered with AWS Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance to meet the growing demand for cloud computing, which is key for digital transformation.”

AWS Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance is a global coalition that addresses cloud and emerging technology skills gaps and prepares learners for in-demand, entry-level tech jobs. Combining the collaborative power of employers, educational institutions and training providers, and governments, AWS Tech Alliance has joined forces with Siemens and SPE in Germany since 2023.

“Siemens is a global market leader in the areas of industrial automation and software solutions and AWS is an industry leader in cloud computing, so we complement each other in expertise,” says Hoffelder. “Joint development of training programs, especially in the IT sector, to bridge IT and OT [operational technology] and share practical experience with young people and students is vital.”

Siemens collaborates with AWS Tech Alliance in Germany across a number of training initiatives and events to give students hands-on experience working with cloud technologies. The IT Specialist for System Integration apprenticeship program combines Siemens’ industrial expertise with AWS Training and Certification, which helps organizations make the most of cloud capabilities with skills and credentials. AWS Cloud Practitioner and Solutions Architect learning paths are part of the 3-year course, and through AWS Skill Builder, an online learning center, apprentices can practice cloud skills for their specific role and project.

“Combining self-paced labs and game-based training with an instructor-led approach helps apprentices get the skills they need in cloud computing,” says Hoffelder. The program, which is supervised and examined by the IHK, will see its first graduates in 2025. “Our programs reflect real business needs,” Hoffelder adds. “Our objective at Siemens is to hire all graduates who have committed to an apprenticeship contract with our company.”

The International Tech Talent (ITT) Program is another initiative through which learners gain the skills and knowledge they need as future professionals in the workplace. The goal is for talent at the beginning of their careers—across diverse roles such as product management, production, and sales—to get an overall picture of Siemens’ business and AWS Cloud technology, including IoT and AI.

“With AWS Tech Alliance, we added a week of cloud technologies into our ITT program,” says Katharina Steier, SPE international project manager. “By using the AWS Cloud Practitioner program and working together with trainers, our tech talent group learned how to apply cloud services to real-life situations within the business.”

Siemens’ 3-day hackathon in Stuttgart in 2024 is another example of how students move beyond classroom learning to apply problem solving and analytical thinking to solve organizational and industry challenges. Around 50 students from the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University took part. They used Amazon Bedrock—the easiest way to build and scale generative AI applications with foundation models—and Siemens’ low-code Mendix platform to develop applications such as predictive maintenance systems and AI chatbots for manufacturing maintenance.

Presenting real-life use cases in an engaging format proved a hit with students, who found brainstorming with experts particularly helpful in finding solutions. “The students were engaged and valued the support from AWS Tech Alliance and the ability to dig deeper into Amazon Bedrock,” says Steier. “This is the cutting edge: using AI alongside our Mendix low-code platform in the way they’ll use it when they join Siemens in the future.”

Expanding on this, Siemens and AWS Tech Alliance organized a second hackathon in collaboration with the Werner-von-Siemens Centre for Industry and Science in Berlin. Over 4 days, 60 students used AI to explore smart recycling and sustainability solutions. “All of our activities with AWS Tech Alliance have been a great success by combining the best of industry, technology, and education,” says Steier. “AWS cloud capabilities can address diverse business scenarios within Siemens’ divisions and operations. As the collaboration continues, we can explore more and more application areas.”

Siemens is set to have upskilled more than 200 students and early career talent across cloud, generative AI, data analytics, and IIoT in just 2 years of collaboration with AWS Tech Alliance in Germany. By providing hands-on learning experiences and industry certification, Siemens not only improves the value of its training but also strengthens its brand as a future-focused employer that helps nurture and harness technical talent.

 “Siemens’ apprenticeships are recognized as the ‘gold standard’ in Germany,” says Hoffelder. “We’ve won several awards from national media for both these and our dual study programs. Incorporating AWS skills further enhances the quality of our programs and creates an even more powerful educational ecosystem.”

Working with AWS Tech Alliance is part of Siemens’ ongoing investment in the talent of the future and continued innovation in critical industries. “At Siemens, we see it as the bridge to build a better tomorrow, applying AWS best-in-class cloud and AI services to Siemens’ best-in-class in industrial automation, digital twin, and IT/OT convergence,” says Hoffelder. Bettina Weckesser, global head of Siemens Professional Education, agrees: “With our Tech Alliance, we’re bringing together the best of AWS and Siemens’ world-class technology and education offerings to shape tomorrow’s digital workforce.”