AI and digital skills: turning potential into productivity

Today, the West Yorkshire Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP): AI and Digital Skills Roundtable was hosted by the West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce at Yorkshire Building Society’s head office in Bradford, bringing together employers, education providers and regional partners to explore how AI is reshaping jobs, skills and business performance.

The discussion highlighted that AI has moved rapidly into key roles over the past three years. However, simply introducing new tools will not automatically deliver greater productivity. Employers need to give people the time, support and confidence to develop their skills, while considering how improvements in speed and quality can be converted into measurable business value.

Key themes included:

How employers can keep workforce skills and compliance up to date amid the speed of technological change;
The leadership capabilities needed to introduce AI responsibly and redesign work effectively;
The importance of people who understand language models and their limitations;
The need to combine technical skills with critical thinking, judgement and the confidence to challenge AI-generated outputs;
How time saved through AI can be reinvested in innovation, service quality and business growth.

Deloitte’s GenAI Workforce Survey 2026, based on 25,000 UK workers, finds that GenAI adoption is widespread but still relatively shallow: many employees have experimented with it, but fewer use it routinely or to fundamentally redesign how work is done. Most use remains focused on familiar tasks such as drafting emails, searching for information and summarising content. The productivity opportunity is significant but uneven, with around 30% reporting some time saved each week, while only 7% save five hours or more, rising to 21% in Information and Communications. Crucially, many users have received no formal AI training and confidence in leaders’ understanding of GenAI is limited. The central message is that technology investment alone will not deliver productivity gains. Organisations need to invest equally in workforce skills, critical thinking, leadership, governance and clear guidance so that time saved through AI can translate into better-quality work, redesigned roles and lasting business value. (GenAI Workforce Survey)

The British Chambers of Commerce estimates that widespread adoption could leave UK GDP more than 10% higher by 2031. However, achieving this will depend on effective leadership, workforce skills, investment and practical support for businesses. (Powering-Productivity-AI-and-the-Future-of-UK-Work_FINAL.pdf)

The roundtable brought together 19 organisations spanning technology and digital businesses, professional services, employers, education and training providers, universities, and regional bodies. Businesses represented included Yorkshire Building Society, Deloitte, ACS Technology Group, Vertage, Guzelian Ltd, Nested Learning, Iff Digital, Rocksoft Tech, Maxtime, T L Dallas Group and Schofield Sweeney. The education and skills sector included NCFE, City & Guilds, LTE Group, the University of Bradford and Yorkshire Universities, alongside the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. Overall, the attendance provided a strong cross-section of organisations able to contribute perspectives on AI adoption, workforce development, leadership, skills provision and regional economic priorities.

The insights gathered will help shape the delivery of the West Yorkshire Local Skills Improvement Plan and support a skills system that can respond to the pace of technological change.