Chair's Brief: Issue 02

Last week I outlined the working groups that will turn the ambitions of the AI Growth Alliance into practical outcomes.

Over the coming weeks, I want to introduce each workgroup in turn, starting today with the AI Skills and Leadership Working Group.

This group is currently being convened by Dr John Flackett, Co-founder and Head of Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (AiLab), who chaired the inaugural meeting this 25th February.

The group brings together leaders from academia, industry, government and business across the region. Their shared aim is simple but important: to ensure that our region has the skills, leadership capability and confidence needed to deploy AI responsibly and effectively.

If you know individuals or organisations that might benefit from partaking in this work, we would warmly welcome an introduction! One of the strengths of the Alliance is that it brings together perspectives from across sectors, and we are very keen to ensure the working groups are inclusive, open and collaborative.

As I mentioned in last week’s newsletter, one of the catalysts for the creation of the AI Growth Alliance was the Government’s call for AI Growth Zones. Our region explored the opportunity but ultimately did not have a site with the scale of energy infrastructure currently required to support that programme.

However, the discussions that followed made something very clear: regional AI growth is not dependent on infrastructure alone.

Data centres and compute capacity are important parts of the national AI landscape, but the real determinant of regional success will be people: the leaders, organisations and workforces who understand how to use AI effectively.

Across Hampshire, the Solent and the wider South Central region we already have strong universities, innovative businesses and diverse industries that can benefit from AI adoption today.

To make the most of that opportunity, we need:

• Leaders who understand how AI can create value

• Organisations that feel confident experimenting

• Workforces who can use it responsibly and effectively

• Education and training pathways that keep pace with change

For many organisations, particularly SMEs, the challenge is not access to technology but confidence in where to start.

The Skills & Leadership Working Group exists to address exactly that challenge.

The Group’s First Priority

At their inaugural meeting, the group agreed that their first major deliverable will be the development of a Regional AI Skills Strategy for Hampshire and the Solent, targeted for completion by July 2026. 

Rather than starting from scratch, the group will begin by reviewing the substantial work already underway nationally and regionally, including:

• the Hampshire Skills Strategy

• the UK Government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan

• national evidence reviews on AI skills and workforce readiness

The aim is to identify where the region’s priorities should sit, what gaps exist, and how partners across education, business and government can work together to address them.

During the group’s meeting, one observation really stood out

Building a Regional Capability Framework

Over the coming months the group will begin mapping:

• the region’s existing AI and digital skills programmes

• the needs of local employers

• barriers that prevent organisations adopting AI

• opportunities for collaboration between training providers and industry

This work will help create a clearer regional pathway for AI capability development, supporting individuals entering the workforce and the organisations adopting AI technologies.

Help Map AI Capability Across the Region

Alongside the work of the Skills & Leadership Working Group, AiLab and the Solent Growth Partnership are currently running a regional AI capability survey to better understand the strengths and barriers within our ecosystem.

The survey is designed to map:

• existing AI capabilities within organisations

• barriers preventing adoption

• opportunities for collaboration

• industry demand for AI skills and training

The results will help inform the Regional AI Skills Strategy currently being developed by the working group.

If your organisation is experimenting with or considering AI, your input would be extremely valuable.

Complete the survey:

https://solentlepapi.evolutive.co.uk/form/anonymousform/68c03893bd9fe54cded30ec4

More information about the project:

https://www.ailab.world/research/ai-capability-survey-uk/

Over the next few newsletters I will introduce the other working groups that will help shape the work of the AI Growth Alliance:

• AI Infrastructure & Investment

• AI Ethics & Inclusion

• AI Ecosystem Coordination

Each of these groups plays a different role, but together they form the foundation for a coherent regional AI strategy.

If you work in education, training, workforce development, or are a business leader interested in AI adoption, the Skills & Leadership Working Group would benefit greatly from your insight.

We are particularly interested in connecting with:

• SMEs experimenting with AI

• training providers developing AI-related programmes

• organisations supporting workforce reskilling

• leaders thinking about responsible AI deployment

If you are keen to contribute to the AI Skills and Leadership workgroup, or indeed to any of the working groups then please

I look forward to working with all of you.

David Patterson

Chair, AI Growth Alliance

This week's Newsletter was written by David Patterson using a structure suggested by Claude and edited using Grammarly. All images created using Canva and this newsletter is produced and managed using beehiiv