Upskilling for AI

Surveys highlight the uneven adoption of AI so far and the skills challenge across departments, job roles and industry sectors.

Relocate Global

22 September 2023

This article is taken from the Autumn 2023 issue of

Think Global People magazine

Click on the cover to access the digital edition.

View your copy of the Autumn 2023 issue of Think Global People magazine.

A new KPMG study reveals that in the US at least, most tax departments are already using some form of AI. This is of interest to global mobility functions; especially given the estimated 35 million tech nomads working remotely internationally and the large volumes of globally mobile tech expertise and related compliance issues.Based on the experiences of 500 US-based CFOs, CEOs and chief tax officers, KPMG’s ‘Tax Reimagined 2023 C-suite report’ finds 40% of organisations plan to invest $10 million or more in AI capabilities in the next year to transform their tax departments. For 59%, their organisation is already using emerging AI technology in their tax or finance department. Of the 41% who aren’t yet using AI, nearly all are interested in doing so.Yet research conducted by chip maker, AMD, among 2,500 global IT decisionmakers on their attitudes and experience on techreadiness also shows 46% of organisations are currently unprepared to implement AI solutions, citing time and resources for employee training as among the key barriers.

Preparing now for the future

These findings coincide with new analysis that starts to answer the related question of what jobs will look like in future. “AI is advancing quicker than anyone could have anticipated, and the floodgates have opened to pave the way for a variety of new roles and in-demand skills,” says Sarah Wyer, a data architect specialising in analytics, automation and AI at FDM Group.According to the talent solutions provider, FDM, 2023’s fastest growing AI roles are:1. AI (Artificial Intelligence) / ML (Machine Learning) Engineer
2. Data Scientist
3. AI Product Manager
4. NLP (Natural Language Processing) Specialists
5. Computer Vision Engineers.

Linking AI, talent and global mobility

Together, these trends highlight the ongoing need for global HR, talent and mobility teams and employers to
continue to innovate and ensure approaches to talent management are fit for purpose – as well as invest
in and develop the people delivering them.Nick Sutton, Crown World Mobility’s VP, global sales & marketing, says global mobility can “pat itself on the back for the creative and innovative ways” it responded to the pandemic. Such agility and innovation have raised global mobility’s profile in the business, bringing teams closer to senior leadership.Fast-forward to today, “the resulting knock-on effect for mobility specialists is a whole raft of new skills required in order to succeed and thrive in the industry,” he adds, introducing ‘Crown World Mobility’s Mobility Trends 2023’ report. Linking the deep technical skills GM expertise is required to have with the picture for AI adoption in tax and finance teams, and the growth of international remote work, this means now more than ever GM needs knowledge of the potential pitfalls and tools available to avoid them.This is a message talent mobility platform for HR, Localyze, reinforces in its report, ‘How to Design Mobility Policies for a Global Workforce’. Hanna Asmussen, co-founder and CEO at Localyze said: “Innovating workplace policies by harnessing flexibility is key for the future of work. However, before businesses rush to offer their employees the opportunity to work internationally, no matter what industry they operate within, they must consider the details. Otherwise, they risk losing more time and resources in the process.”

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