techUK Joins Government's AI Skills Partnership to Train 10 Million Workers

techUK, the UK's technology trade association, has joined the government's expanded AI Skills Boost partnership, a cross-sector programme aimed at equipping 10 million workers with AI skills by 2030. The partnership brings together industry, government, and civil society organisations to deliver free AI training at scale.

techUK joins a broad coalition of new partners including the British Chambers of Commerce, Confederation of British Industry, Federation of Small Businesses, Institute of Directors, Local Government Association, NHS, and technology companies Cisco, Cognizant, Multiverse, and Pax8 alongside founding partners Accenture, Amazon, Barclays, BT, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Sage, SAS, and Salesforce.

The partnership was launched alongside a government announcement of £27 million in funding for the TechLocal scheme part of the broader £187 million TechFirst programme  designed to help fill or create up to 1,000 tech jobs in local communities.

techUK has also contributed to the AI skills research informing Skills England's analysis of AI workforce needs, and joined the AI and the Future of Work Expert Panel, which includes academics, union representatives, and civil society leaders.

Julian David, techUK CEO, said the association was moving "from the generative AI moment into the agentic era", where AI, data, applications, and people work side by side at the heart of modern business — and that the partnership was critical to ensuring no communities are left behind in the transition.