Leadership1 publisher2 min readPublished
Four in ten UK senior leaders say better AI training would make them change jobs
Four in ten UK senior leaders told Emergn they would change jobs for an employer offering better AI training. That puts executive AI development in the retention budget, though the evidence so far is what leaders say they would do.
The Board Room · Leadership desk
Drafted by a language model from the sources cited here and checked against its claim ledger before publication. How we use AISend a correction
What happened
- Nearly a quarter of UK senior leaders, 23%, admitted to Emergn that they bluff about how much they know about AI.
- Thirty-eight per cent believe their careers will suffer unless they drastically improve their AI skills within the next year.
- Some 22% said the pace of AI change in their industry makes them anxious or costs them sleep.
- Earlier this year, a separate Pluralsight survey found 79% of tech workers feigning more AI knowledge than they have.
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Why it matters
- contradiction Self-assessment is a weak basis for deciding who gets trained: nine in ten tech workers and executives in Pluralsight's survey called their AI skills adequate, even though admitted pretending was widespread.
- constraint The government's 10 million-person programme covers simple tools for drafting and admin, so employers still pay for AI development at leadership level.
- exposure When a quarter of senior leaders overstate what they know about AI, the AI proposals that reach them can be approved on understanding that nobody has tested.
The retention figure measures stated intent. Respondents were answering a hypothetical: whether they would change jobs if a new employer offered better AI training [5]. The ITPro report of the Emergn research [1] does not give a sample size or any turnover data showing whether leaders act on answers like that.
The training figure is firmer because it describes the past year. Fifty-seven per cent of senior leaders had not done substantial, ongoing AI training in the previous 12 months [16], against 43% who had [4]. These are settled executives. Every respondent had held their role for at least five years [6], and 22% said AI's impact on that role leaves them feeling out of their depth [7].
Alex Adamopoulos, chief executive of Emergn, traces the bluffing to the role itself [10]. "It is hard to admit you do not understand something when you are supposed to be the person with the answers. But pretending leaves you with the same unanswered question tomorrow," he said [10]. His remedy costs working hours. "Give them time to learn and coaching they can use in the working day," he said [11].
For a board, the trade-off is executive time now against experienced people later. Respondents already apply that reasoning to their own teams: 36% said delivery performance would deteriorate significantly if their most experienced transformation people left [8]. I think the same logic applies one level up. Training a senior leader makes them more employable elsewhere, and more than four in ten respondents rate AI skills above formal qualifications [9]. Withholding it carries its own risk, since 40% say a better training offer would move them [5].
The national case for upskilling plays out over a decade. The Learning and Work Institute and The Rigby Foundation estimate that comprehensive AI upskilling could lift UK productivity by 2.3% by 2035, a net present value of 80 billion pounds over nine years [15]. A board makes its call this quarter: whether senior leaders get protected learning time and coaching in this budget cycle. Deferring it sets up next quarter's question, whether the leaders who wanted that training are still there to receive it.
What to watch
- Emergn publishing its sample size and method, which would show how far the 23% and 40% figures can be generalised.
- Employer data linking senior departures to the training on offer, the evidence that would turn stated intent into a measured retention cost.
- Whether the government's 10 million-person AI skills programme adds material aimed at managers and senior leaders.