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ABSTRACT
Rapid digitization in industries is transforming the way corporations conduct their core businesses and interact with their customers. The proliferation of data in these corporations and the ability to process them using the latest AI/ML techniques are compelling them to transform themselves into data-driven organizations. However, acquiring new talent with data science skills and/or reskilling existing employees with deep domain experience presents a major challenge. In this paper, we illustrate how a unique collaboration between industry and academia to impart AI and machine learning (ML) skills to domain experts contributed to furthering an organization's AI aspirations. Specifically, the collaboration has created a continuous learning environment that is conducive to active experimentation and reflective practice, both of which are essential to gaining actionable business insights. Our methodology can be applied to reskill workforces in the future in transformative new-age technologies while adding value to the organization at the same time.
Keywords: Experiential learning & education, Artificial intelligence, Industry partnerships, Workforce development
1. INTRODUCTION
Given the extraordinary success of recently released large-language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, it is conceivable that the workplace of the not-so-distant future will be remarkably different from anything we have seen today. LLMs are perhaps the most awe-inspiring outcomes of the current data-driven revolution, which is mainly catalyzed by rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI is no longer an option for organizations; it is an essential strategic resource that can help organizations understand their customers better and anticipate their needs, create innovative products and services, increase productivity and operational performance, and unlock business value (Santos, 2025; Sayegh, 2024). The problem is exacerbated by the ever-widening skills gap (Horn, 2020) and the disparate production and consumption rates of Al-related technologies (Ransbotham, 2020), which hinders organizations" endeavors to derive actionable insights that drive business value. However, the ability of an organization to harness the enormous potential of AI depends on the extent to which the organizational structure (e.g., business processes) and the workforce are aligned (Besson & Rowe, 2012). A vital part of this workforce alignment is to re-train current employees in new technologies such as Al (Pederson, 2024). According to a recent survey of C-suite executives, workforce skills are trailing behind investments in AI (Skillsoft, 2024). In addition, the majority...