WPP wants to train 50K employes on AI. Here's how they plan to do it. - MarTech Today

Last month, WPP, the holding company for multiple agencies and networks including Oglivy, GroupM and Kantar, released its annual results for 2019. The company put forth a number of objectives across various business units, but one line especially caught our eye: "In the next two years, we plan to train 50,000 people to be able to articulate the power of artificial intelligence and its value to clients, and to accredit 5,000 data scientists, engineers and creative technologists in the key marketing technologies." Training a full staff on AI is no easy task, but to undertake an initiative to train 50,000 people is something that takes enormous coordination. "Our AI skills development program is very exciting and spans executive education," said WPP's CTO Stephan Pretorius. To make its AI training goals a reality, WPP is currently developing a graduate diploma with Oxford Saïd Business School and rolling out a data science academy created in partnership with General Assembly.