Google hosted more than 50 chief human resources officers and training leaders from some of America's largest companies at its New York office this week for a summit focused on how businesses should prepare their workforces for artificial intelligence.
The event, organised by Google's Grow with Google programme under the title "Leading the AI Transformation," was designed less as a product launch and more as a nudge to the people who control corporate training budgets: start investing in AI skills now, or risk falling behind.
Professor David Autor, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology whose research on technology and jobs is widely cited in policy debates, told the audience that the future of AI in the workplace is not something to be predicted but something to be actively designed.
The framing reflected a theme that ran through the day: companies that treat AI adoption as a deliberate strategic choice, rather than a force to be passively endured, will be better positioned to benefit from it.
The summit highlighted two corporate examples that illustrate very different approaches to the same problem.
Walmart, the world's largest private employer, is providing free access to Google's AI Professional Certificate to all 1.6 million of its associates across Walmart and Sam's Club stores, a programme that teaches practical skills such as writing effective prompts, analysing data with AI tools and creating content.
Citi, the global bank, is training its entire workforce on how to communicate with AI systems, focusing on the skill of writing clear instructions, known as prompting, that produce useful results.
Both efforts reflect research published by Google and polling firm Ipsos earlier this year showing that while 70% of managers believe an AI-trained workforce is essential, only 14% of workers said their employer had offered them any AI training.
The gap between what companies say they need and what they are actually providing to staff was a recurring point at the summit.
Lareina Yee, Google's vice president for the future of work, told attendees that success with AI requires curiosity and a willingness to abandon established habits, a message aimed squarely at senior leaders who set the tone for how new technologies are received within their organisations.
Speakers argued that when managers visibly experiment with AI tools and share what they learn, it gives permission for the rest of the organisation to do the same, creating a culture where trying new approaches is encouraged rather than treated with suspicion.
The event also served Google's commercial interests.
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The AI Professional Certificate, launched in February, is built around Google's own tools including Gemini, and every participant receives three months of free access to Google AI Pro, giving the company a direct pipeline to train millions of workers on its products.
Google has framed the programme as addressing a skills gap, but it also functions as a customer acquisition strategy at a time when the company is competing with Microsoft, Amazon and others to embed their AI tools into corporate workflows.
The recap
- Leading the AI Transformation summit hosted over 50 HR leaders.
- Walmart will give Google AI Professional Certificate to 1.6 million associates.
- Attendees were equipped to drive AI adoption across their organisations.
