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In a matter of months, Devoteam upskilled 70% of its global workforce in AI, a strategic move to stay ahead of the curve and solidify its position as a leading AI-driven tech consultancy. Investing in AI training for the employees is essential to supporting and accelerating the growth of Devoteam’s business with tech partners, which is already expanding at twice the rate of other areas.
If we’re not constantly adapting and supporting the latest technologies, skills, and capabilities, then how can we differentiate ourselves as a premium company for our customers?
Simon Ruszala
Devoteam Group Learning Director
The Snapshot
1
The rapid emergence of generative AI presented a significant industry disruption, compelling the company to broaden its training focus to maintain its competitive edge.
2
Devoteam established a strategic learning programme to certify its consultants with major technology partners, directly linking this to revenue growth.
3
Devoteam launched a comprehensive AI Upskilling Programme to equip every employee with foundational capabilities, fostering widespread AI enablement across all business departments.
Laying the Groundwork for Success
To maintain its competitive edge in the tech landscape, Devoteam began its partnership with Udemy in 2022, aiming to help its consultants develop stronger partnerships with the company’s enterprise technology partners.
As Ruszala explains, “We had a few key KPIs for learning, such as 70% of all consultants being certified to demonstrate our strong tech DNA. We wanted our people to get certifications that were directly linked to our hyperscale partners – like Google, AWS, ServiceNow, and Microsoft – as we knew this was strongly linked to increasing revenue and growth.”
A New Focus: AI Training for All Employees
By 2024, it was clear that generative AI would be a major industry disruptor, prompting a shift in Devoteam’s learning requirements. To prepare for the future, the company deepened its partnership with Udemy Business to provide rapid, on-demand upskilling for its entire global 11,000-member workforce.
To ensure a consistent learning experience across the entire organisation, Devoteam extended its Udemy investment, providing licences to its entire workforce. The goal was to help every employee gain a “GenAI Level 1” badge while also encouraging extended learning for consultants.
From Ambitious Goals to Measurable Impact
This ambitious initiative quickly yielded measurable results. Around 65% of the company—roughly 6,800 people—completed the AI training within the first three months, before reaching upwards of 70% a few months later. Once they had, learners received a Gemini Pro licence, which gave them the opportunity to use their newly acquired knowledge and drive new efficiencies in their work.
This rapid adoption of AI training wasn’t a standalone effort; it built upon Devoteam’s established success in consultant certification, where, in three years, Devoteam has gone from having 40% of its consultants with key partner certifications to over 70%, which has significantly impacted the company’s competitive advantage. The company’s dedication to certifying its consultants delivered a significant return on investment.
Projects and revenue associated with our tech partners are growing at twice the rate of other areas of the business, demonstrating the value of investing in quality education and training in these specific areas.
Simon Ruszala
Devoteam Group Learning Director
Investing in People, Not Just Skills
Devoteam strives to provide an environment where its employees can learn at the pace of change. To achieve this, the company established its own AI Upskilling Programme to deliver accelerated AI enablement, from its client-facing consultants, such as architects, engineers, and data specialists, to all other business departments, including sales, finance, recruitment, marketing, and HR.
“We also have a duty of care for our people. We needed a platform that could be a resource for our employees to learn a multitude of skills to help develop them, personally or professionally,” says Ruszala.
Boosting Retention, Satisfaction, and Recognition
The benefits extended beyond upskilling. Additional outcomes of the GenAI Level 1 learning programme were a 4% reduction in attrition, linked to having enough learning resources for clients and personal development, and an increase in satisfaction through Devoteam’s annual employee satisfaction survey. Here, learning was the highest-ranked of 15 topics and saw the largest gain in the year the programme was launched.
Ruszala confirms that the impact on employee satisfaction has been a significant advantage: “In our annual company survey, ‘resources for learning and development’ is now the highest-scoring answer. Previously, they were ranked sixth.”
As a result of its ambitious journey of AI training for employees, Devoteam has won and been nominated for several awards and has even led workshops at the United Nations, demonstrating the business impact of this approach. Notable accolades include first place for ‘Learning Excellence in EMEA’ from Udemy and a top-ten finish for the ‘Best Learning Technologies Project’ at the 2024 Learning Technologies Awards.
70%
Of the workforce upskilled in AI
30%
Increase in partner certifications
4%
Lower employee attrition
What’s Next: Extending the Vision
To accelerate AI enablement, the company is now investigating how it can extend its internal courses and learning paths to universities and clients.. This will attract the next generation of top talent and help its clients transform into successful AI organisations.
Based on the results over the past 12 months, Devoteam will continue to develop its global, centralised approach to learning.
Building on our success, we are now empowering other businesses. Learn more about how Devoteam has partnered with Scaled Agile, Inc. to deploy AI-native training for enterprises.
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