The digital skills gap is what stands between AI investment and AI impact, according to FutureDotNow. Holly Chate, its Chief Operating Officer, told aiblLIVE London 2026 that employers are buying AI licences without asking whether their people are ready.
Only 45% of UK working-age adults have all the essential digital skills for work. Chate set out where the gaps hide, what they cost and how employers can measure their own workforce.
All figures as stated on stage by Holly Chate.
Because AI only pays off when people can use it safely. Chate is less worried about prompting, since AI works in human language. The risk is whether people spot wrong or biased answers, know when not to use AI and keep confidential data out of public tools.
AI investment and AI impact are two quite different things. And sitting between the two of them is workforce capability.
Holly Chate, Chief Operating Officer, FutureDotNow
More people than leaders assume, including groups they rarely suspect. One in four tech sector workers lacks all the skills, as do one in three people earning over £75,000. Half of young people leave education without them. Because people rarely admit what they cannot do, these pockets of risk often stay hidden.
FutureDotNow names four, identified with the Alan Turing Institute and employers. Workers need to understand what AI is and when to use it, and communicate with it effectively. They also need to critically evaluate what it gives back and use it responsibly, whatever their sector or role.
Start with FutureDotNow’s Workforce Readiness Report, which gives an indicative picture from your sector, size and goals. Then run a self-assessment with one team, department or role type. Give people time and permission to learn, and have leaders share their own results to remove any sense of blame.
We need to give them time and permission to learn.
Holly Chate, Chief Operating Officer, FutureDotNow
Holly Chate is Chief Operating Officer at FutureDotNow, the UK charity and business coalition working to close the essential digital skills gap in working-age adults. She spoke on the Workforce track at aiblLIVE London on 20 October 2026.
If you have invested in AI but cannot say whether your people are ready, start here. The full PDF goes deeper than this page, in the speaker’s own words.
For HR and L&D leaders, COOs, chief digital officers and transformation leads. Six pages, about a seven-minute read.
