As companies race to implement this new technology, they鈥檙e discovering it鈥檚 not all as smooth as envisioned. Following a recent , high costs and fuzzy business value are creating speed bumps. As it turns out, the technology itself isn鈥檛 the problem, it鈥檚 how and why we use it. Like any shiny new gadget, AI agents only matter when they solve real problems that make people鈥檚 lives easier. So, what kinds of issues are they good at tackling? And how do we make sure we鈥檙e designing systems that serve actual humans and are not just chasing the latest tech trend?

That鈥檚 where things get interesting: deciding when you truly need an agent, how much freedom it should have, and what challenges and tasks it鈥檚 meant to address all while ensuring it genuinely helps people, instead of just ticking the 鈥渨e use AI鈥� box. The real magic happens when humans and agents team up, working side by side for the best results. How do we make the most of this human-agent partnership?

If you鈥檙e looking for a practical way to get started, the 麻豆原创 AppHaus Joule Agent Discovery and Design workshops offer a hands-on approach to help tackle these exact questions. With a blend of human-centered design methods, these workshop formats put people first, working to ensure agentic systems aren鈥檛 just flashy but genuinely useful.

Want to try it out for yourself? Here鈥檚 how you can run your own workshops and define impactful agentic systems.

A toolkit to build human-centered agentic solutions

The Joule Agent workshops are offered as two different formats, each designed to guide you through a different stage of building effective agentic systems: the Joule Agent Discovery workshop and the Joule Agent Design workshop. Together, these workshops provide a hands-on, human-centered path for creating AI agents that can truly deliver value.

First stop: Joule Agent Discovery workshop

The Joule Agent Discovery workshop is a structured approach to uncover the most valuable opportunities for agentic technology. It focuses on real-world challenges and identifying where automation can make the biggest impact. In two to three hours, participants dive into questions such as: What specific inefficiency or challenge needs solving? What could be automated? Who would benefit most from automation? What needs to be achieved with the automation? How complex and variable is the problem at hand?

The workshop also introduces participants to agentic technology and examines how much the selected challenges would benefit from it. By the end of this workshop, participants identify one or more high-value use cases that are well-suited to agentic technology. This helps ensure that efforts are focused on meaningful improvements rather than adopting technology for its own sake.

Second stop: Joule Agent Design workshop

Next is the Joule Agent Design workshop, which brings together those closest to the process鈥攅nd users and business experts鈥攖o define the details of the agent: its responsibilities, required skills, and how it will collaborate with people. The workshop follows a practical structure:

1. Define the focus area: Clarify what target users need to achieve within the selected process and identify which aspects would benefit most from automation.
2. Identify tasks to delegate: Use the metaphor of 鈥渉iring a super-specialist鈥� to decide which responsibilities should remain with people and which can be assigned to agents. Exercises help determine how many agents are needed, the risks of automating certain tasks, and where consistency versus autonomy is required.
3. Describe the super-specialist job: Draft a job description for each agent, outlining necessary skills and responsibilities.
4. Instruct the super-specialist: Define the instructions or workflow, including information requirements, decision points, and where human involvement is needed.

By the end of the workshop, each agent is described in detail, including its tasks, required knowledge and tools, and an initial set of instructions. This forms the foundation for configuring the agent鈥檚 system prompt.

The workshop material also offers guidance on structuring the system prompt based on the gathered information, ensuring a smooth transition from workshop insights to practical implementation. The entire process is designed to be completed in a single day and can be conducted virtually in Mural.

Learning how to run these workshops

To help ensure that anyone can confidently run these workshops鈥攏o advanced degrees or secret codes required鈥攁 set of self-paced courses are available and can be completed at the individual pace of the learner:

• : This course offers a comprehensive introduction to the Joule Agent Discovery workshop. It provides a clear, step-by-step guide, explains the exercises in detail, and gives practical advice on how to facilitate effective sessions. You鈥檒l gain the skills to identify agentic opportunities and successfully lead your team through the process.
• : This short webinar also centers on the Joule Agent Discovery workshop, but it specifically highlights a practical method for assessing the agentic potential of automation ideas. Consider it your quick reference for making informed decisions about automation.
• : The latest addition to our curriculum, this course walks you through the Joule Agent Design workshop step by step. It covers each exercise, shares real-world examples, and offers facilitation tips. You鈥檒l also learn how to adapt the workshop format for various time constraints and organizational needs.

All the resources required to facilitate these workshops are freely available on the website. Learners can simply visit the site, explore the materials, and start their agentic journey with confidence to turn ideas into new useful, human-centered AI solutions.

Karen Detken is an expert user experience designer at 麻豆原创 AppHaus.

Take this common pattern: a brilliant software engineer gets promoted to team lead, only to find the new role demands completely different skills. Technical expertise doesn鈥檛 always translate into leadership success. Managing people requires mentoring, conflict resolution, and strategic decision-making鈥攕kills that aren鈥檛 always developed in technical roles.

When companies push top performers into management without proper support or alternatives, they risk losing great individual performers, like engineers or developers, and gaining ineffective managers. As a result, some employees may feel disconnected from the work they love, and stepping back can feel like failure rather than a strategic career choice.

This default move to management can often be a symptom of an organization鈥檚 professional learning gaps, where high-performing individual contributors can plateau because structured learning paths for deepening expertise are missing. Plus, it can often be a moment where professional learning is missing and newly minted managers aren鈥檛 provided with the proper management training, which sets both individuals and teams up for struggle. Professional learning plays a critical role in this juncture of individuals鈥� careers, and being able to provide the appropriate learning in this moment is crucial.

The case for dual career paths

Not everyone is cut out for鈥攐r interested in鈥攎anagement. A found that 36% of tech workers have no interest in taking on managerial responsibilities. Some professionals thrive as individual contributors, while others excel as people managers, technical leads, or mentors. Recognizing this, forward-thinking companies offer a genuine choice: pursue a management career or deepen expertise as a specialist. This dual-ladder system allows growth that aligns with their strengths, interests, and motivation.

Retaining talent by valuing expertise

Providing both management and expert career paths does more than boost job satisfaction; it helps retain top talent. When employees see a future that matches their interests, they are more likely to stay, contribute at a higher level, and innovate. It also fosters a culture of continuous learning, where growth isn鈥檛 reserved for those who manage others.

Organizations don鈥檛 just need boardroom executives or 鈥渕anagers of managers鈥�; they need top performers at every level. That means intentionally creating and rewarding non鈥憁anagerial opportunities鈥攚ith clear progression, pay parity, and visibility.

Supporting employees in finding their path

Effective support for career choice goes beyond general promises of opportunity and structures on paper. Organizations need a clear distinction between management and expert tracks, defined criteria for progression, protected time for learning, and leaders equipped to coach learning and development across both tracks. It also calls for clarity on which competencies are evolving in both leadership and expert roles, ensuring development targets skills, not titles.

Turning that clarity into impact requires a learning infrastructure: curated curricula, mentoring, communities of practice, and visible milestones that normalize expert development. In the 麻豆原创 context, and skill-validation programs provide organized resources that can support building and maintaining skills over time, enabling development at different depths and paces, independent of title changes. serve as neutral milestones that can validate skills, increase transparency, and make expert progression comparable to managerial advancement.

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Redefining success at work

Ultimately, career growth doesn鈥檛 have to mean management. By embracing dual career paths鈥攁nd by investing in learning infrastructure and credible certification for both paths鈥攐rganizations can unlock the full potential of their workforce. The companies that will thrive are those that make every path a route to meaningful impact, recognizing that value comes from contribution and capability, not just position.

Diana R枚sner is head of Certification Transformation at 麻豆原创.

One in four Americans hitting peak burnout before turning 30, and over half of American workers across age ranges they are currently experiencing at least moderate levels of burnout. The state of modern workplace stress is accelerating, and it can create mental health concerns for employees鈥攁s well as high turnover, low productivity, and worse business outcomes for employers.

What鈥檚 fueling it? Increasingly, point to 鈥減seudowork.鈥� Pseudowork is busy work: the constant churn of e-mails, meetings, and low-impact tasks that leave employees drained and unfulfilled.

When a workday is filled with seemingly endless busy work, it may be a natural reaction to get home and ask yourself, 鈥淲hat did I actually accomplish today?鈥� Simultaneously exhausting and demoralizing, pseudowork may be a key contributor to the burnout increasingly felt by younger generations.

If pseudowork is a key contributor to employee burnout, then the solution may be the opposite: opportunities for real learning and development in the workplace. Almost a third of employees that high-quality training at work left them feeling 鈥渢ruly enlightened and invigorated.鈥� They also felt 鈥渉ighly valued and empowered鈥� by their employers, recognizing the continuous investment in their development. In addition to the obvious benefit of creating a more highly-skilled workforce, learning opportunities help employees feel a sense of achievement, excitement, and empowerment鈥攂reaking up the pattern of pseudowork and combatting burnout in the process.

This kind of meaningful learning can be unlocked through , which allows people from the entire 麻豆原创 ecosystem to access a wide range of to enjoy while taking a break from answering yet another e-mail. Structured 麻豆原创 Learning Journeys can allow workers to dive in at their own pace according to their unique needs and goals. They can be seamlessly integrated into daily work routines to allow employees to forge their own continuous learning path. As an said herself, 鈥溌槎乖� Certification boosts my confidence and adaptability. Continuous learning听not only enriches my knowledge base but also ensures that the solutions I provide are cutting-edge and in sync with the evolving tech landscape.鈥�

By integrating continuous learning into daily routines, organizations can do more than build skills鈥攖hey can reinvigorate their teams and begin to truly counter the effects of pseudowork.

Sabine Benz is head of Enablement and Engagement at 麻豆原创.

In response to this mounting pressure, 麻豆原创 has launched 鈥攁 no-cost global program that can provide students and academic educators with all the curated resources needed to get and stay certified and stand out with proven skills in the latest 麻豆原创 innovations. It offers guided learning resources, including expert-led live sessions, access to practice systems to get hands-on experience, and two 麻豆原创 Certification exam attempts.

Available globally since April 2025, the program is designed to close the gap between classroom theory and real-world readiness, giving students access to all the resources they need to future-proof their career with the latest skills and credentials.

Closing the global skills gap鈥攐ne student at a time

The need for a program like this has never been higher. With AI-related course enrollments spiking by and increased fears of digital obsolescence, students and early-career professionals are looking for practical, on-the-job experience鈥攏ot just theoretical knowledge鈥攖o empower them to meet change with adaptability, not anxiety.

The timing of this initiative is critical, too. IDC projects that by 2026, over 90% of organizations will suffer from a shortage of IT skills, costing them trillions in missed opportunities. Employers are struggling to find graduates who not only understand digital technologies but can also use them effectively from day one. Dr. Katharina Sch盲fer, global head of 麻豆原创 University Alliances, believes 麻豆原创 Learning Hub, student edition will help bridge this skills gap: 鈥溌槎乖� Learning Hub, student edition simplifies lesson planning and instruction for lecturers while also ensuring students gain practical experience with the latest 麻豆原创 technologies to prepare them for today鈥檚 job market.鈥�

Students, educators, and employers alike win

Designed for students, the site offers self-paced content and guided and tailored learning to help gain practical skills. Along with accessing the latest practice systems for 麻豆原创 solutions, students can connect directly with 麻豆原创 experts in live sessions to cover more complex topics. With 麻豆原创 Learning Hub, student edition, students can gain the confidence to work on key 麻豆原创 projects, drive innovation with their proven proficiency, and continuously develop the skills to stand out to employers.

Beyond students, the benefits of extend to lecturers who can now have access to guided, practical resources to help empower their students to graduate with an 麻豆原创 Certification. 鈥淭his program lowers the barrier for me to teach with real 麻豆原创 tools,鈥� said Nancy Jones, a lecturer and curriculum developer. 鈥淢y students are walking away not just with knowledge鈥攂ut with proof that they can apply it.鈥�

The solution can also give companies a powerful new lever to tap into certified, workforce-ready talent鈥攎any of whom have been trained in the technologies they use on a daily basis. HR leaders and hiring managers can also benefit from an efficient recruitment process by easily identifying candidates with validated 麻豆原创 expertise. This also helps reduce the need for extensive training, shorten onboarding times, and ensure the company鈥檚 readiness for future challenges鈥攁 win for all.

Overcoming with future-ready skills

麻豆原创 Learning Hub, student edition arrives at a time when AI and digital transformation are redefining job requirements. This digital solution can give young talents鈥攁nd the educators who support them鈥攁n effective way to keep pace. In doing so, they鈥檙e laying the foundation for a more resilient, skilled workforce that鈥檚 ready to meet the challenges and opportunities of the modern economy head-on.

More information can be found here:

• Students:  
• Lecturers:

Andre Bechtold is president of 麻豆原创 Industries & Experiences.

Investing in learning and talent development has become more critical than ever for organizations, especially in today鈥檚 fast-paced and ever-changing business landscape. According to the , employers expect 39% of key skills required in the job market will change by 2030. As technological advancements like AI reshape industries, organizations must equip their workforce with the skills necessary to adapt and stay competitive. At the same time, employees today are increasingly seeking more personalized opportunities for growth and development.

麻豆原创 continues to drive innovation in learning and talent development with the enhanced, integrated learning experience in . A redesigned homepage helps streamline access to required, role-based, and interest-driven learning, while AI-powered tools can automate skills identification and provide personalized recommendations for learning. Customizable templates and enhanced search can further improve accessibility, creating a seamless learning journey.

Additionally, 麻豆原创 recently launched , an AI-driven solution that can provide personalized career guidance, helping employees develop the skills and experiences needed for growth. Both 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Learning and 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Career and Talent Development are powered by the talent intelligence hub, a single source of truth for workforce skills that helps enhance visibility and alignment across the talent lifecycle and is built into 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Performance & Goals. These innovations can enable organizations to upskill, retain talent, and build a workforce ready for the future.

“In a tight talent market, building skills is a critical issue for all organizations,” said David Wilson, CEO of Fosway Group. “Too many providers fail to offer personalized, relevant experiences that make an impact. Reflecting its status as a Strategic Challenger, 麻豆原创 continues to invest in enhancing how learning ensures both employees and organizations thrive in a rapidly evolving skills landscape.”

Organizations of all sizes鈥攆rom large enterprises to midsize companies鈥攍everage 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Learning to help drive their compliance and skills strategies and create a culture centered around continuous learning.

, one of the world鈥檚 leading pump and water solutions companies, is leveraging the power of the talent intelligence hub in 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions to become a skills-first organization by shifting the focus from job titles and degrees to a comprehensive understanding of employees鈥� skills.

 鈥淲e had been working with skills and competencies for quite some time before the [talent intelligence] hub,鈥� said S酶ren Nielsen, Grundfos鈥� business architect for HR Technology. 鈥淏ut the AI enablement and support are already providing different opportunities to address our skills shortage. In terms of educating and growing our people, we can see how the [talent intelligence] hub can recommend the right training at the right time to help people develop the right skills. Maintaining taxonomies, skills, competencies, and behaviors was a huge, cumbersome task when these were connected to roles. Now, we have boiled it down to talking only about skills. And we can set up a framework that supports both the role and the individual with a top-down and bottom-up approach.鈥�

, one of Canada鈥檚 largest courier companies, chose 麻豆原创 to unify its HR processes and support and develop its frontline teams. With 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Learning, the company launched an award-winning leadership development program to transform managers into leaders.鈥�淥verall, the program has generated over CAD 21 million in saved revenue,鈥� said Tennyson Devoe, senior director of Safety and Organizational Excellence at Purolator. 鈥淔urthermore, we鈥檝e seen a significant reduction in our injury frequency rate and improved union relations.鈥� The program also gave frontline managers the skills to help a long-tenured workforce adapt to new ways of working.

Looking ahead, we are excited to continue innovating in talent management, skills, and the learning user experience to help our customers solve their biggest challenges, address critical skill gaps, and prioritize their greatest differentiators鈥攖heir people.

and discover more about .

Vinita Venkatesh is vice president of Product Management for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Learning

With the move to the newest, cloud-based solutions 鈥� and while turning to certified experts, skilled in the latest innovations 鈥� 麻豆原创 customers can get the job done.

To fully leverage the advantages of the latest 麻豆原创 solutions, it is crucial for teams to possess up-to-date skills in the latest product developments. This is where certifications come into play.

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麻豆原创 reinvented its certification program earlier this year to commit to innovation excellence and prioritize continuous learning and assessments to get and stay certified. Professionals possessing the skills for the latest 麻豆原创 solutions are set to drive faster implementation projects, reduce risks, and enhance overall business efficiency.

This also means an annual renewal of with short assessments on the latest product updates. And with the first deadline approaching 鈥� all 麻豆原创 Certifications issued before April 2024 will expire on March 31, 2025 鈥� certified professionals must act now to maintain their certification.

Deliver Maximum Value with Validated Up-to-Date Skills

麻豆原创’s goal is to make it easier and faster for everyone to learn the latest skills and maintain their certification. The redesigned certification program has two key objectives:

• It provides streamlined access to learning and quick quiz assessments, making it easier and faster to acquire and maintain the latest skills and certifications.
• It maintains excellence for innovation by ensuring that certified professionals meet quality standards across 麻豆原创 solutions. 听

To get and stay certified, only a subscription to is needed. It provides access to all needed to prepare for a certification exam with guided learning resources such as expert-led live sessions and hands-on practice systems. Four certification exam attempts per learner per year are included in the subscription, and it also provides the simple approach to remain certified with short quizzes 鈥� making it an all-in-one-solution to gain the latest skills and drive innovation.

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麻豆原创 Launches First AI Certification

Being constantly updated, the 麻豆原创 Certification portfolio reflects the latest 麻豆原创 innovations. In line with the growing importance of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning skills, 麻豆原创 is introducing its first certification for generative AI developers, set to launch in December. Verifying skills in 麻豆原创 Business AI capabilities and 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform application extensions, the certification touches on the 麻豆原创 Business AI strategy, ethics, and methods for performance for use cases for large language models (LLMs). Using 麻豆原创鈥檚 generative AI hub, professionals will also work on real-life business problems while upskilling.

This certification, among all the others,already available, highlights 麻豆原创鈥檚 commitment to equipping professionals with innovative skills critical for the workplace of the future, offering numerous self-paced learning journeys, AI-specific courses, and resources to prepare learners for success in this transformative field.

Your Time to Act Is Now

is a commitment to driving innovation excellence.

With the first deadline approaching, organizations can now act and ensure that their teams are certified and prepared to meet demands with confidence and expertise in the latest 麻豆原创 innovations. The enhanced certification program offers the chance to partner with certified experts to support the success of transformation projects and that they run at their best. And certified individuals can now claim their spot among excellent innovators, staying ahead in their career by renewing their certification.

Do not wait! To lead with excellence to drive innovation, .

Andre Bechtold is senior vice president and head of Solution and Innovation Experience at 麻豆原创.

This perspective reflects an essential truth for today鈥檚 companies: growth and adaptation aren鈥檛 one-time goals; they鈥檙e cyclical processes essential for staying competitive and relevant. To keep up in this new landscape, businesses need adaptable guidance and proactive support that evolve alongside them.

麻豆原创 services subscription offerings can deliver on that reality without adding risk and anxiety. Like the infinity symbol, our services can provide a continuous, adaptable loop of options for enhanced learning, smooth operations, iterative optimization, and peak performance.

Let鈥檚 walk through each pillar of our fundamental cloud success framework and its advantages.

Learning 鈥� Starting with the Foundation

Learning is essential and a cornerstone for cloud success. Workforce transformation is rapidly changing, and skills are in need of continuous evolution. To help customers understand the resources available and wield them with confidence, our cloud adoption portfolio pulls together clear options for:

• Continuous training programs for end users with 麻豆原创 Learning Hub
• Access to ongoing expertise for solution administrators and IT personnel

This foundational phase goes well beyond onboarding new cloud software. It helps cultivate a culture of agility, continuous upskilling and certification, and readiness for ongoing innovation. For example, according to 麻豆原创鈥檚 commissioned , a composite organization representative of interviewed customers achieved substantial benefits. They include up to 25% productivity gains from enhanced upskilling, 50% cost savings with digital delivery, and a 50% faster time to competence for end users.

Optimizing for Today in Preparation for Tomorrow

Optimizing the use of cloud software and maximizing its potential is an ongoing journey. With an ever-changing software landscape, staying up-to-date on the latest features and knowing how to leverage them for the greatest impact on the business is challenging for many of our customers across all industries.

That’s why we offer 麻豆原创 Preferred Success, an offering of cloud adoption services that can enable our customers to build dynamic plans. Its service portfolio can provide the continuous expert guidance and insights necessary to refine business processes and help ensure technology investments support efficient, flexible, and resilient operations.

In 麻豆原创鈥檚 commissioned , organizations have experienced significant ROI and improvements in operational efficiency. Such benefits include 30% higher business-process efficiency, 25% time savings in release management, and a 24% boost in productivity for a composite organization representative of interviewed customers. The proactive guidance and actionable insights provided by the offering empower our customers to stay ahead of the technology curve while driving measurable results.

Operating with Confidence

In the cloud, operations take on a new form. Traditionally, companies relied on on-premise services and external consultants to manage operations. Now, the shift to cloud services demands a more comprehensive, integrated approach.

麻豆原创 Cloud Application Services offerings are tailored to help support customers using 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud and 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform (麻豆原创 BTP) in their daily operations. Our customers can offset cloud operations and critical processes while focusing on more valuable sides of their business 鈥� all with the full confidence of a reliable and proven partnership.

Our customers can also opt for the expanded edition of 麻豆原创 Preferred Success to help leverage services readily available as part of their plan for reinforced testing, configuration management, and application and business process checks. As a result, organizations can adapt without missing a moment of opportunity for improvement, enhancement, and growth.

The service portfolio can provide tremendous value to our customers, from helping accelerate time to first value to boosting operational efficiencies and productivity in impactful ways. The insights and expertise offered can give our customers the confidence that we understand their challenges and build trust as we partner together to deliver optimal solutions.

Performing at Peak Levels

For our customers, the ultimate goal of their cloud experience is to run their software at peak performance with minimal friction and maximum results. That鈥檚 where WalkMe solutions can step in, which are now part of the 麻豆原创 solution portfolio.

The solutions help put people at the epicenter of this cloud journey. They can assist organizations in proactively navigating constant technology changes, enhancing business process adoption, resolving digital friction, guiding users within their workflows, and streamlining tasks across any application.

With this flexibility, our customers can adapt their technology landscape to meet unique needs and fuel future growth while significantly reducing costs and time spent on support, user training, and development.

By enabling consistent, effective, and efficient use of software across workflows, our digital adoption capabilities can detect points of friction and provide tailored support and automation to help streamline tasks within the flow of work, across any application. In return, organizations can adapt their technology landscape to their unique needs to minimize the change curve while maximizing their cloud investments, reducing risk, and fueling future growth.

Looking Forward to a Journey of Ongoing Evolution

Times change, and so do the ways businesses operate in the cloud.

In today鈥檚 technology-driven business landscape, having great systems isn’t enough. Dependable, proactive services are necessary to keep them running smoothly. 麻豆原创 cloud service plans can deliver just that. With best-practice cloud services, we can harmonize the latest technologies and cloud services into a single, user-friendly experience that helps eliminate anxiety and guesswork.

As cloud technologies evolve, so will 麻豆原创鈥檚 cloud adoption service portfolio, bringing exciting new developments to help our customers learn, adapt, and excel. Here’s to a year filled with growth, opportunity, and the guidance you need to thrive!

Chad Crook is head of Enterprise Cross Solution Sales for the Customer Success Chief Business Office at 麻豆原创.

With the rise of 麻豆原创 Business AI solutions, the 麻豆原创 AppHaus and 麻豆原创 Solution & Innovation Experience teams joined forces to develop an 麻豆原创 Learning Journey based on the existing 麻豆原创 Business AI Explore and Design workshops, both available in the . These formats were designed based on experiences gained in co-innovation projects with customers. In these projects, diverse teams of users, partners, designers, coaches, and enterprise architects worked on identifying use cases in their respective business scenario that could be enhanced and redesigned with the help of 麻豆原创 Business AI.

As Karen Detken, 麻豆原创 AppHaus strategic designer, puts it: “This journey aims to equip business executives, development teams, and innovation practitioners with a structured approach to identify and define AI use cases that benefit both the company and the end users. The collaborative exercises described in the journey are explained in detail to enable anyone, even those without extensive facilitation experience, to conduct these sessions on their own. Our ultimate goal is to bring innovation into the hands of people and make best use of the latest technologies.”

Who Are the Learners?

This journey is designed for anyone interested in finding meaningful use cases for AI that can benefit end users and businesses. Here are some scenarios on how different people at an organization can benefit from it:

Early Talent Anil Heads to a Customer-Facing Role

Anil just finished university and joined 麻豆原创 as an early talent. His role is in the field organization and he would like to consult customers on innovative solutions built with 麻豆原创 BTP. With this goal in mind, he took design thinking training at university.

The 麻豆原创 Learning Journey’s course material, templates, and guidance will enable him to help customers identify use cases that offer great innovation potential when redesigned with 麻豆原创 Business AI. For Anil, the journey is an opportunity to support his new customer account team in the context of the latest AI technology and work with the customer teams along well-described workshop steps.

What鈥檚 more, the acquired learning badge comes in handy and can be shared via social media.

Experienced Account Manager Sophie Relies on Continued Learning

To serve her customers best, account manager and business coach Sophie wants to be at the forefront of future-oriented learning. After completing trainings and gaining experience with generative AI applications, she is now happy to get hands-on help through this new 麻豆原创 Learning Journey on how to work with customers and evaluate business challenges that can be turned into innovation opportunities with the help of 麻豆原创 Business AI. She hopes to reach her ambitious goal of doing this customer-facing workshop with the customer team and identifying different use cases.

As one of the first attendees who completed the course, she happily adds the course badge to her different social and HR accounts as a kind of personal unique selling point, but not without first sharing a summary of her key takeaways on LinkedIn.

麻豆原创 Partner CEO Jacky Wants to Apply the Knowledge to Benefit Customers

In Jacky鈥檚 role as founder and CEO of one of 麻豆原创鈥檚 consulting partners, Jacky always looks for the latest enablement and training opportunities for the team. In the case of the new journey 鈥淎pplying a Human-Centered Approach to Identify and Define Business AI Use Cases,鈥� Jacky was very curious to participate early on. Based on his basic knowledge of generative AI as well as the intrinsic consequences of this new technology, legal regulations, and other factors to be considered in customer projects, this workshop added complementary material and guidance for customer-facing work. Right after completing the course, Jacky recommends the 麻豆原创 Learning Journey to the entire global team.

What鈥檚 more, Jacky sets up a task force with three volunteers to plan a customer roadshow to share this knowledge. He sees this workshop format as a good way to pique customers鈥� curiosity regarding innovation potential that can be unlocked with the help of 麻豆原创 Business AI. What鈥檚 more, this roadshow could also position his team as cutting-edge technology consultants and trusted AI advisors.

Developer and Enterprise Architect Lenny Wants to Learn How to Gather Requirements Early On and with Customers

After years in classical development roles, Lenny has grown her expertise and become an enterprise architect. She likes the exchange with customers and seeing how new 麻豆原创 solutions improve their work and user experience.

In a recent meeting with her manager, Lenny heard about a new 麻豆原创 Learning Journey on co-innovation workshops with customers where requirements for a new solution are gathered during the first two workshop sessions. As this directly complements her work as an enterprise architect working with customer and account teams on new solutions, she wants to start the journey right away. Lenny can鈥檛 wait to support customers in designing new solutions with the help of 麻豆原创 Business AI built into the core business processes and existing 麻豆原创 BTP landscapes.

Valuable Insights for Many Purposes

No matter if people are in a similar situation as Anil, Sophie, Jacky, or Lenny, or just curious about investigating around new AI solutions, the 麻豆原创 Learning Journey can provide valuable insights for many different purposes.

When asked, what it is that sets this journey apart from others, both Mariam Lolua-Hessler, 麻豆原创 Global Product and Solution Learning, and Sreekanth Sreedharan, 麻豆原创 Partner Solution Enablement, replied: 鈥淯nlike most courses that dive deep into the techy side of AI, this journey really focuses on why we need AI in the first place. It鈥檚 more about understanding the reasons behind it, which makes this training stand out.鈥�

Imke Vierjahn is 麻豆原创 AppHaus communications lead at 麻豆原创.
Image courtesy of Hyun Lee, 麻豆原创 AppHaus, senior UX design specialist.

A recent report from the that 44% of employees鈥� core skills are expected to change in the next five years. To stay ahead in a constantly changing workplace, organizations must not only understand this shift but actively adopt new technology to drive reskilling and upskilling, data-driven decision-making, and continuous learning at scale.

Creating a Unified Skills Foundation for Learning and Talent

麻豆原创 provides the tools and intelligence needed for organizations to adopt a robust learning and talent strategy and meet this challenge head-on. The 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HCM suite leverages embedded AI across the entire talent lifecycle, from recruiting and onboarding through ongoing learning and development. At the heart of this capability is the talent intelligence hub, a single source of truth for skills intelligence across the entire organization.

We recently announced that the talent intelligence hub can now integrate skills from external partners 鈥� a unique differentiator that truly empowers organizations to have one single view of the skills across their business while giving employees access to a constantly evolving skills profile. Partners like Beamery, Degreed, IMOCHA INC,听Korn Ferry, Lightcast, Phenom, TalenTeam, and TechWolf will integrate their skills data into the talent intelligence hub 鈥� with more partners to come in the future. These partnerships can empower organizations to integrate existing skills frameworks and create a more unified, future-ready workforce.

鈥溌槎乖� has invested heavily into its skills capabilities over the last several years and it is paying off,鈥� said Josh Bersin, industry analyst. 鈥淭he promise of a skills-led workforce only works if companies have their skills in one integrated place. With these new integrations, 麻豆原创鈥檚 talent intelligence hub does just that.鈥�

Driving Continuous Growth That Evolves Over Time

Building a skills foundation has been a top priority for HR leaders for several years. found that one-third of HR leaders plan to increase learning and development spending to develop evolving skills at speed and scale.

With an established skills foundation, organizations have the data to drive ongoing growth and development for their employees. 麻豆原创 has several solutions that work together to help provide an integrated employee experience that can adapt throughout their career: 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Learning and the newly announced 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Career and Talent Development.

Career paths are not linear. According to the , the Baby Boomer generation held an average of 12 jobs by age 56鈥�, and Millennials are estimated to hold up to 16 jobs in their career. Rather, it鈥檚 normal for employees to switch job functions that require upskilling, mentorships, fellowships, a lateral move, or a combination. 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Career and Talent Development helps guide employees and managers to shape careers based on personal aspirations and organizational priorities. Using AI, it can recommend skills and experiences as well as clearly defined steps that an employee would need to meet their career goals. Recommendations can be enhanced and adjusted based on how that employee progresses 鈥� whether it鈥檚 by learning new skills or participating in a new opportunity.

A critical part of any career progression and upskilling is learning. 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Learning can complement the personalized approach in 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Career and Talent Development with AI-recommended content that helps foster curiosity and discovery. It can go beyond mandatory learning for safety and compliance to include content for topics and skills they are interested in. In addition, skills tagged to learning items help employees to discover the next learning steps reflecting their interests, needs, and for further growth. Data from 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Learning can filter back to the talent intelligence hub, helping to ensure employees鈥� skills profiles are constantly up-to-date.

Customer Success with 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors

麻豆原创 is helping businesses like Norsk Hydro and Grundfos Holding stay ahead by combining cutting-edge AI capabilities with a comprehensive learning and talent strategy.

By leveraging the talent intelligence hub, Norsk Hydro has adopted a unified skills model that spans recruiting, onboarding, learning, development, performance, and succession. Each employee maintains a growth portfolio, empowering them to take ownership of their career development by adding role-specific skills and focusing on their priorities. Norsk Hydro has also embraced the new integrated learning experience, using AI to recommend relevant skills-based learning opportunities. By tagging courses with the right skills and connecting learning directly to business goals, Norsk Hydro ensures that employees can easily access the training they need to grow and succeed.

is harnessing the talent intelligence hub to foster a more agile, project-based work environment, empowering employees to take on diverse roles based on their skills rather than job titles. This strategic shift not only promotes internal mobility but also enhances employee retention and satisfaction by establishing clear pathways for professional growth and development. Additionally, people leaders now have a comprehensive overview of team members’ skills, facilitating immediate skill assessments and streamlining competency management across the organization. This approach enhances the ability to align talent with business needs effectively, driving both individual and organizational success.

With today鈥檚 rapid pace of innovation, having the skills data to fuel data-driven insights for workforce planning and employee growth will be a differentiator for organizations. 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions are designed to scale and evolve as business and the workforce change.

Tune into to learn more about the latest innovations in 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions, including 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Career and Talent Development.

Dan Beck is president and chief product officer at 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.

In response to this trend, 麻豆原创 is lowering access to acquiring these critical skills with an expanded partnership with 麻豆原创 PartnerEdge member and its education brand . K2 University is expanding its portfolio further, offering for 麻豆原创 solutions in the United States and Canada. Bringing high-quality and vetted 麻豆原创 learning content, methodology, and system access to even more people, this strategic move aims to provide individuals with the opportunity to deepen their 麻豆原创 knowledge through scheduled, live, instructor-led courses guided by experienced trainers 鈥� and to bring 麻豆原创 solutions to life. 听

Breaking down barriers and providing future-focused education to a broader audience, this collaboration is a testament to our commitment to empower individuals through accessible learning opportunities. Hearing that 麻豆原创 professionals like , a recent university graduate, can access amazing job opportunities thanks to their 麻豆原创 skills, underscores the importance of those learning programs. Beau knew that tech, and specifically 麻豆原创, was in increased demand. And while his story is inspiring, there are many more.  

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In fact, proves that upskilling not only helps individuals, but also organizations gain the right skills critical to drive digital transformation. Ensuring project success and maximizing the return on investment companies made with 麻豆原创 solutions, the study on the power of continuous upskilling was conducted by Forrester Consulting, a leading global market research company, and quantified several benefits for organizations. One of them was improved upskilling due to greater learning access, resulting in productivity gains of up to 25%. The study also showed a faster time to competence by 50% for users. Interviewees also reported cost savings and greater project success.  

We are confident that our extended partnership with K2 University in North America will continue this positive impact on many people and organizations. We look forward to a future of shared success and growth, solidifying our commitment to creating opportunity through learning and development for all.

麻豆原创’s dedication to delivering future-focused, cloud-first training both online and on-site will continue. This expanded offering with K2 marks the next step in widening the availability of training resources, as Wahridj Gergian, managing director of K2 University, highlighted in a recent conversation: 鈥溌槎乖� is a cornerstone in the tech world, and its solutions are vital for businesses worldwide. Cultivating 麻豆原创 skills is essential for professional growth and success in today’s digital landscape. I am thrilled that through our long-standing and successful partnership with 麻豆原创, we can now expand our offering to our audience, empowering them to excel in the tech industry and beyond. This is a significant step forward in K2 University鈥檚 commitment to providing valuable, in-demand skills to our community.鈥�

While this may just be the start, we are hoping to bring additional training offerings to other regions, making sure organizations are set up to bring out their best with 麻豆原创.

Andre Bechtold is SVP and head of Solution & Innovation Experience at 麻豆原创.

At 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors, our have conducted five years of research to understand how skills can be effectively incorporated into HR strategies. After speaking with 278 HR leaders and surveying 9,432 global employees and managers, we鈥檝e identified to integrate skills into your people practices to become a skills-focused organization. Let鈥檚 explore these approaches and the technologies that can support them.

1. Skills-Implied Approach

In a skills-implied approach, organizations use traditional criteria like candidates鈥� or employees鈥� previous job titles, educational background, and past experience to make decisions instead of using skills data. Here, work is centered around job roles, and decisions about hiring and pay are based on job titles and levels. Learning and development is tailored to current roles, and promotions follow standard paths tied to credentials and tenure. Workforce planning tends to focus on short-term headcount needs, with minimal use of skills data for deeper analysis.

This approach is best for roles requiring specific certifications or highly specialized skills that are either externally regulated or require extensive training, such as lawyers, certified public accountants, and pilots.

In terms of tools and technology, job architectures can help clarify roles and align jobs based on the type of work performed. For example, the job profile builder in 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions helps manage job elements such as descriptions, experiences, qualifications, skills, competencies, behaviors, education, and certifications. It can offer a flexible, intuitive way to identify and share job description components across an organization.

2. Skills-Included Approach

In a skills-included approach, work is organized around job roles with an emphasis on a few key technical skills. Hiring focuses mostly on traditional criteria like education but includes some skills assessment as well. Pay is generally based on job title and level, though skills might impact bonuses. Learning and development targets skills that are crucial for current or future roles. While skills are considered in workforce planning and reported in broad terms, they鈥檙e not connected with other data sources for deeper insights.

This works best for roles where required skills remain mostly consistent, but the prioritization and application of those skills evolve over time, as in, for example, sales and people management.

Recruiters can use AI-enabled recruiting tools to consider an applicant鈥檚 technical and professional skills during the hiring process. For example, the solution鈥檚 AI-assisted applicant screening can provide a skills compatibility score, allowing recruiters to view how well an applicant鈥檚 skills match job requirements. Candidate profiles include details on exact skills matches, additional relevant skills, potential skills, and missing skills to help recruiters quickly and effectively screen the best applicants.

Learning management systems can support targeted skill development for current roles. , for example, can offer AI-driven learning recommendations and a dynamic search feature that filters by criteria such as duration, mobile availability, and specific skills. This helps promote continuous learning and can guide employees in developing skills for advanced proficiency levels. Additionally, offer over 1,250 expertly curated learning paths aligned with high-demand skills and competencies. These include areas like AI and generative AI, cybersecurity, data management, leadership, first-time management, and performance and culture. Learners can refine their skills through various methods, including reading, watching, listening, and active practice.

3. Skills-Led Approach

In a skills-led approach, jobs are defined by a mix of technical and professional skills. Hiring looks at a range of skills, along with traditional criteria. Pay is linked to both the skills employees bring to the table and their performance. Learning and development is customized based on skills data and personal interests, helping to create personalized plans and internal mobility opportunities. Workforce planning becomes strategic, focusing on closing gaps between current and needed skills, and skills analytics are used to dive deep into skill levels and how they connect with other data.

This is best for roles where critical skills are specific or uncommon but proficiency can be inferred from adjacent skills, such as in marketing and operations.

Thinking about tools and technology, skills platforms can be useful to support this approach by tracking and analyzing skills across the workforce. The 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors talent intelligence hub, for example, uses an AI-driven framework to integrate skills data from multiple sources, enabling organizations to make data-driven talent decisions. In addition, learning platforms provide development opportunities tailored to individual skills and career goals. For example, offers AI-driven recommendations and peer suggestions for personalized learning. Skills tagging and the search for skills help to foster a habit of curiosity and a culture of continuous learning. Additionally, talent marketplaces like can offer experiential learning opportunities through AI-driven suggestions for mentors, short-term assignments, dynamic teams, and job openings.

4. Skills-Based Approach

In a skills-based approach, jobs do not exist 鈥� instead, work is organized entirely around the skills required to complete it. Hiring is all about evaluating skills instead of sticking to traditional criteria. Pay is tied to the skills employees currently have, with bonuses for skills that will be valuable in the future. Learning and development focuses on preparing for future skill needs, and internal mobility is driven by moving employees where their skills are most needed. Workforce planning is strategic, looking ahead to forecast what skills will be needed, and skills analytics keep track of trends and how skills connect with other business data.

This works for roles that rely more heavily on technical skills, roles that use certain tools or processes that are common across organizations or industries, and roles where skills can be gained outside of an educational setting, like HR, IT, and finance.

Integrated talent management platforms take care of all aspects of skills development and deployment in this approach. With , organizations can use an AI-driven, unified skills model that covers everything from recruiting to learning, performance, and succession planning. The 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors talent intelligence hub helps organizations get a clear view of their workforce by linking individual skills, strengths, and preferences with the right people and experiences across the platform. This can make managing skills throughout the employee lifecycle much easier and more effective.

As organizations work to weave skills into their HR strategies, understanding these four approaches can help them create a skills-based plan that fits their unique needs and goals. Whether you鈥檙e starting with a skills-implied approach for specialized roles or aiming for a skills-based framework for more dynamic functions, the key is to align the strategy with your organization’s specific context and objectives.

By exploring these approaches and using the right tools and technologies, organizations can build people practices that boost efficiency, transparency, and overall success. Finding the right mix and approach for your specific needs is key to unlocking the full potential of skills-based management.

to dive deeper into our skills research. Want to see how focusing on skills can unlock an organization鈥檚 potential? about Erie Insurance鈥檚 journey to becoming a skills-based organization.

, a global aluminum and renewable energy company based in Norway with 33,000 employees in 40 countries, is one example of an enterprise that is on a journey towards becoming a skills-based organization. Jeanine Fremstad, Norsk Hydro鈥檚 global lead for Skills and Learning, explains why the company is taking a proactive approach to skills development and learning: 鈥淲e need to keep up with the evolving landscape of workforce skills to remain competitive and at the forefront of our industry.鈥� 

Upholding a long-standing tradition of sustainable industrial development, Norsk Hydro has ambitions to pioneer the transition to 鈥済reen aluminum鈥� powered by renewable energy by the end of the decade. To get there, the organization decided to take a structured approach to skills and learning by undertaking a pilot project using 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions.

Fremstad says the initiative is essential to Norsk Hydro’s business strategy and to attract and retain people. 鈥淲e need to know what skills we already have in the company in order to know what skills we need to attract. We also need to know what skills we need to develop,鈥� she says. 鈥淏eing able to offer attractive learning and development opportunities is key to retaining people.鈥�

She offers a straightforward assessment of where the organization stands and why change is necessary: 鈥淥ur internal research shows that one in three employees are unsatisfied with the opportunities for professional development, future careers, and equal opportunities. And we just think that鈥檚 not good enough; therefore, we started on a skills transition journey.鈥�

Selecting a Trusted Partner for AI-Driven Skills and Learning

In April 2024, Norsk Hydro began a pilot to offer its workforce access to AI-driven skills and learning recommendations for their professional development. With 100 employee participants in various countries, the company鈥檚 HR team has purposefully set the bar for success high. 鈥淲e believe that for Hydro as an organization, success will mean we will see improved employee experience and engagement, reduced attrition, and that we will have better insights from data for workforce planning,鈥� Fremstad says.

Norsk Hydro selected 麻豆原创 as its trusted technology partner and joined the 麻豆原创 Early Adopter Care program because of a shared vision for people-centric skills and AI-enabled learning. It is working closely on the project with 麻豆原创 partner , taking advantage of its Skills Transformation Suite to speed innovation.

Transitioning to a Skills-Based Organization

The first step in Norsk Hydro鈥檚 skills journey was to build the company鈥檚 skills library based on a curated skills library from an external provider. The AI-assisted curation process analyzed Norsk Hydro鈥檚 job architecture and 33,000 job titles and identified likely relevant skills from the external skills library. As a result, approximately 4,000 skills relevant to Norsk Hydro were mapped against job families. The central project team is working to validate and refine these results.

Next, Norsk Hydro used 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors talent intelligence hub to help gain the power and simplicity of a single skills model from recruiting, onboarding, learning, and development through to performance and succession. The talent intelligence hub can connect skills, attributes, strengths, and preferences to both people and experiences throughout 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions. Each employee has a growth portfolio of skills, which helps empower them to own their learning and career development. Employees can also manually add role-specific skills and skills of interest for their development. Norsk Hydro is applying a trust-based approach that allows employees to maintain their skills profiles and build their development plans based on their prioritized skills. While certain skills may need to be validated and assessed for legal compliance requirements, the employee generally may decide their proficiency levels for most skills.

As a third deliverable in the project, Norsk Hydro updated its internal development process to ensure that skills are an integral part of the leader-employee dialogue. It aims to tighten the connection between skills, goals, performance, and learning.

Also, Norsk Hydro recently implemented the new integrated learning experience from 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Learning. Embedded AI can enhance the employee鈥檚 experience with relevant skills-focused learning recommendations that are unique to each employee based on their needs and interests. Norsk Hydro鈥檚 offering of learning opportunities comprises a broad set of both internal and third-party channels. On the organization鈥檚 new learning homepage, all courses are now automatically tagged utilizing TalenTeam鈥檚 Skills Transformation Suite, so that relevant learning to close skills gaps is easy for employees to find and access.

The project team has taken away some good learnings on the journey to becoming a skills-based organization. For example, Fremstad recommends taking the time to validate the skills library to ensure the correct level of granularity for skills and establishing only one skills library to make certain each employee has a single skills profile. Different vendors use different skills taxonomies, which can cause problems when integrating them. She underscores that it鈥檚 important to constantly work towards delivering the best user experience possible.

A key element to the success of the pilot is continuously testing and collecting feedback from users, she says. Pending a successful pilot, Norsk Hydro鈥檚 long-term ambition is to implement the solution 鈥� offering AI-driven recommendations to help match employees with assignments, career opportunities, and mentors 鈥� and a broader rollout of the talent intelligence hub to all employees. Employees will benefit from having a 鈥渟ingle pane of glass鈥� overview for all learning and development opportunities across the organization.

Elevating Skills as the Red Thread in HR

Norsk Hydro is building a skills-based organization rooted in a learning culture that will ultimately deliver benefits to employees and leaders alike. Employees will gain the autonomy, leadership support, and growth mindset to set them on a path of lifelong learning and development, so that they have the skills they need to build their careers and ensure future employability. Leaders will benefit from having data-driven insights that support workforce planning and match the right people with the right task to achieve business goals. They will also be able to attract and develop talent by offering a more compelling career proposition that includes skills growth and re-skilling.

鈥淲e believe by doing this,鈥� Fremstad says, 鈥渨e are creating the foundation for a skills-based organization by starting with learning and development. Long term, we would like to see skills as the red thread throughout our HR processes.鈥�

Find out about solutions and the integrated learning experience from 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Learning.

To make it easier to develop relevant skills and secure business success in such a volatile environment, we embarked on a journey to upskill millions of people worldwide in search of opportunity. After launching a digital skills initiative for those underserved in tech, forging new partnerships, offering the first role-based certifications to help meet real-life business needs, and making future-focused learning resources available to all, we are now taking our efforts to an even higher level 鈥� with more free, self-paced learning and engagement opportunities, new solution demos to experience the latest innovations in 麻豆原创 Business AI, cloud ERP, and 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform (麻豆原创 BTP), among others, a full portfolio of role-based certifications and a new certification model, as well as an extended digital skills initiative.

More Than 250 Free Online Courses Now Available for All

From global talent shortages and changing job profiles to the digitalization of entire economies, many organizations see the gaps between skill supply and demand grow wider and wider while searching for ways to adapt to a business landscape where advancements like AI, machine learning, and a new era of Big Data come into play. In this ever-changing atmosphere, tens of thousands of organizations have to support them on their path to bring out their best, leading to skyrocketing demand for 麻豆原创 talent.

To help meet the increasing demand, we recently launched more than 50 new free, self-paced learning journeys 鈥� many of them touching on AI features embedded in our software 鈥� bringing the total number of digital courses on the to more than 250. By allowing everyone with an Internet connection to quickly learn a new skill for free, keep up with the latest innovations, and prepare for an in-demand 麻豆原创 Certification, more professionals can advance in the competitive technology labor market, while customers can draw on a deeper bench of skills to accelerate digital transformation.

Launching Role-Based Certifications for All Key Roles

As organizations need to be more adaptive and dynamic, traditional university degrees become less important and skills-based hiring is on the rise when trying to fill positions. In fact, recent reports show that up to in the U.S. in the beginning of the year did not state an educational requirement. Instead, role-based certifications and practical experience have become more determining factors for career paths and hiring.

Recognizing the advantages role-based certifications can offer both individuals and organizations, we have further enhanced our certification program to better align with real-life business needs, now offering role-based certification for all key roles, including consultants, analysts, and architects. These role-based certifications come with a clear career path for individuals. Together with a with continuous assessments, this is our way to help ensure skill sets are sharp, focused on core competencies, and more sustainable and valid for longer periods of time.

With these enhancements, we believe we have now taken an important next step to support professionals and organizations in the 麻豆原创 ecosystem to bring out their best with ongoing and up-to-date knowledge of the latest skills, helping to maximize the ROI of 麻豆原创 software, shorten deployment times, lower costs, speed innovation, and increase employee retention and satisfaction.

Simplified Access to Pre-Trained 麻豆原创 Talent

However, we recognize that many people considered underrepresented in tech still do not have access to future-focused educational resources and with it, fulfilling careers. Launched in late 2022, was intended to equip 10,000 people from underrepresented and underserved groups for a career in the tech industry with free, self-paced learning resources and a free certification exam attempt to obtain an in-demand 麻豆原创 Certification to show their expertise. Ever since its launch, the initiative has grown 鈥� and contributed to .

Hearing that 麻豆原创 professionals like , could overcome gender bias because of our digital skills initiative, makes me proud. 鈥淸The digital skills initiative and 麻豆原创 Certification] indeed opened new doors and helped me get noticed by recruiters,鈥� Fan said. 鈥淚 got several interviews from major 麻豆原创 consulting firms shortly after handing in my application. In the interviews, I highlighted what I learned and expressed my confidence in accepting challenges for rolling out 麻豆原创 S/4HANA. In the end, I got an offer and gladly started a junior role at a consulting firm that actively implements 麻豆原创 S/4HANA projects.鈥�

While Fan鈥檚 path is inspiring, she is not the only one who turned their life around with the help of 麻豆原创. Given the expectation-exceeding demand of now more than 14,500 candidates, we are overwhelmed by the positive uptake of the initiative. One of our recent graduates, on camera and shared how intimidating the tech industry appeared to the single mother at first. Thanks to her willpower and commitment, plus a little help from the digital skills initiative, she recently got certified and hired by an 麻豆原创 partner. And as organizations are still struggling to find skilled employees, we have decided to extend 麻豆原创鈥檚 digital skills initiative, bringing candidates and organizations together. With simplified access to 麻豆原创-trained talent, we are helping customers and partners to recruit talent and expand their workforce faster while also allowing for greater diversity and innovation.

At 麻豆原创, we recognize the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for customers, partners, and individual learners within and outside of the 麻豆原创 ecosystem. With these enhancements, we have taken the next step to help organizations equip their existing workforce with the right tools and resources to future-proof their skill set while also paving career growth for those who do not have a seat at the table yet but can bring a fresh set of perspectives to it.

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Andre Bechtold is SVP and head of Solution & Innovation Experience at 麻豆原创.

By shifting towards a skills-based approach to talent acquisition and development, companies can build a workforce that is not only capable of meeting current demands, but also equipped to navigate future challenges effectively. Here are three strategies for building a dynamic organization with a skills-based approach to talent.

1. Identify and Prioritize Critical Skills

The first step in implementing a skills-based approach is to identify the key skills that are crucial for the organization’s success. This involves analyzing the current and future needs of the business and understanding the skills that are in high demand in the market. By prioritizing these critical skills, organizations can focus their hiring efforts on candidates who possess or have the potential to develop these competencies.

With the 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors talent intelligence hub, organizations can have the power and simplicity of a single skills model from recruiting, onboarding, learning, and development, all the way through to performance and succession.听It helps to better understand, build, and leverage the skills of workforces. It can connect individual skills, attributes, strengths, and preferences to both people and experiences throughout听麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions.

By creating a comprehensive overview of the skills available within the organization, managers can identify gaps and areas for improvement. This information can inform talent development initiatives, such as training programs or job rotations, to help employees acquire the necessary skills to excel in their roles. For example, within the talent intelligence hub there is a team growth portfolio view, which allows managers to quickly assess skill gaps and search for prioritized skills within their teams.

2. Foster a Culture of Continuous Learning

Building a dynamic organization requires a culture that supports continuous learning and skill development. Organizations can encourage employees to enhance their skills through internal training programs, mentorship opportunities, and access to external resources. By creating a learning environment where employees are motivated to upskill and reskill, organizations can ensure that their workforce remains adaptable and competitive in a rapidly changing market.

AI-enabled learning platforms can deliver personalized and adaptive training programs based on individual skill gaps and career aspirations. with embedded AI can give organizations a wide range of capabilities that help enhance a learner鈥檚 experience with relevant recommendations that are unique to each learner and based on their needs and interests. In addition, has AI-driven recommendations to help match employees with assignments, career opportunities, mentors, and more. This solution considers not only qualifications but also skills, experiences, and preferences, so that organizations can ensure better talent alignment and engagement.

3. Embrace Flexibility and Adaptability

In a skills-based approach to talent management, organizations need to be flexible and adaptable in their recruitment and development practices. This means being open to hiring candidates with transferable skills and potential for growth, rather than focusing solely on specific job titles or qualifications. This can be made possible with technology that supports skills-based hiring.

With , skills can be aligned to job requisitions and skills-based candidate evaluations. This can allow hiring managers to view rankings of candidates and determine the best candidate based on their skill proficiency. In addition, recruiters can leverage generative AI capabilities to help enhance job descriptions, including the proper skills and competences, which helps recruiters hire the best talent for a role. By embracing a more flexible approach to talent acquisition, organizations can build a diverse workforce with a wide range of skills and perspectives, driving innovation and creativity.

A skills-based approach to talent management can help organizations build a dynamic and resilient workforce that is equipped to thrive in today’s fast-paced business environment. By prioritizing critical skills, fostering a culture of continuous learning, and embracing flexibility in recruitment and development practices, organizations can create a competitive advantage through their most valuable asset 鈥� their people.

To learn more about how to build a dynamic organization with a skills-based approach to talent, register for this听 on Thursday, April 25, at 1:00p.m. EST.

Christina Russo is a global director of Product Marketing at 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.

Feedback from participants highlights the training鈥檚 success in improving the understanding and utilization of support services. Ongoing updates help ensure the course remains relevant amidst evolving technology and business landscapes, with future developments likely to incorporate advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools for support services.

Q: Can you provide an overview of the Support Accreditation training and its significance for anyone engaging with 麻豆原创鈥檚 support processes?

Engelhardt: The Support Accreditation is a vital learning tool for our partners and customers as well as for our employees. It’s an informative course that can familiarize participants with 麻豆原创 support services and help maximize their support experience. This is a unique opportunity to understand all the tools and resources available when interacting with 麻豆原创 support and to learn efficient ways of engaging with our teams and resolving issues.

In situations of urgency or escalation, customers might try to contact someone at 麻豆原创 they personally know rather than follow the regular process. How does Support Accreditation address such situations and educate participants on the importance of following the proper channels?

That’s a great point. In urgent or escalated situations, individuals might feel tempted to bypass the usual channels and seek immediate remedies. However, these uninformed measures can result in delays. The Support Accreditation course emphasizes following the correct 麻豆原创 support processes, which can ensure their issues are routed to the appropriately skilled support teams, leading to more efficient problem resolution.

Can you shed light on how the Support Accreditation training details the importance of our 24/7 support structure and how customers and partners can take advantage of it?

The course thoroughly details our 24/7 support structure. We work to ensure that participants understand how, no matter their time zone, they can harness this around-the-clock support. It’s about making sure that our customers and partners know that they always have the backing of 麻豆原创, no matter when an issue arises.

How can customers and partners ensure that their issues are addressed efficiently even when their primary contacts at 麻豆原创 are out of office?

We indeed cover this crucial aspect. The training delves into detail about the Customer Support organization, which aims to ensure service continuity even if specific account contacts at 麻豆原创 are unavailable. Our course participants are made aware of the various support structures in place to assist them.

The Support Accreditation training also covers the etiquette and best practices for interacting with 麻豆原创 support. Can you talk more about this and why it’s important?

Interacting with support teams forms a large part of managing 麻豆原创 services, so etiquette and best practices in this area are covered in our course. We guide learners on the most effective ways to communicate with our teams, provide necessary information, and follow prescribed processes for optimal support assistance.

Do you have any insights related to the feedback from Support Accreditation participants? How has the course improved their understanding and utilization of our support services?

Feedback from Support Accreditation participants has been overwhelmingly positive. Our learners report significantly improved knowledge about 麻豆原创 support services and tools, and they’ve been successful in applying this knowledge to engage more effectively with 麻豆原创 support. This has resulted in smoother, quicker issue resolutions, translating to improved satisfaction and service experiences.

With technology and business requirements evolving, how will the Support Accreditation course adapt to these changes? What future developments can participants expect?

The course isn’t static; it evolves with the technology landscape and business requirements. We continually update it to include new tools, offerings, or changes to existing processes. This helps ensure that the Support Accreditation training remains up-to-date and continues to be a valuable resource for our customers and partners. Future developments will certainly involve advancements in AI and machine learning tools in support services, so participants can be well prepared for the future of support services.

With the widened availability of AI, the race for skills is impacting both people and organizations. While people are learning how to use AI to drive more efficiency within their individual roles, organizations are also under pressure to adopt AI technology that can deliver more personalized development opportunities and greater talent intelligence.  

Over the last year, 麻豆原创 has made significant investments across , specifically in , to deliver these capabilities. 

These investments are part of a broader strategy to help our customers focus on accelerated skills growth and build a future-ready workforce. Recently, we released a redesigned integrated learning experience that can deliver an entirely new way for people to experience learning at work. The highly personalized experience can guide the learner to not only accomplish compliance trainings 鈥� what they 鈥渉ave to learn鈥� 鈥� and organizational goals 鈥� what they 鈥渘eed to learn鈥� 鈥� but also helps to drive an intrinsic culture of learning around what they 鈥渨ant to learn,鈥� tapping into each individual鈥檚 needs, aspirations, interests, or preferences based on their growth profile. 听

Furthermore, the AI-powered talent intelligence hub is now available across all 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions. It is a framework that helps organizations understand the skills their employees have today, the gaps that exist, and how to close those gaps. With this intelligence, 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Learning can continue to deliver even more personalized learning and development recommendations. 

鈥淭he level of innovation within the learning systems market continues to accelerate rapidly 鈥� specifically around AI and skills,鈥� said David Wilson, founder and CEO of Fosway Group. 鈥淎s a major vendor in this space, 麻豆原创 continues to invest significantly in innovating its learning and talent capabilities, reflecting its focus on enhancing the value it delivers to learning buyers as well as its wider HCM audience.鈥� 

Both multinational and midsize companies leverage , along with our partner ecosystem, to help drive upskilling and reskilling and create a culture of continuous learning.听

San Pablo Farmacia, a Mexico-based pharmacy retail chain, created an intuitive and engaging training experience that employees can consume at their convenience. By integrating the learning solution with other talent management applications, it can design personal training and development plans in line with its growth strategies and the individual needs of the entire workforce. The company delivered certified training to 1,800 employees without the need to transport its people to a training location and take them away from their pharmacy stores.听

Delta is also embracing AI to drive upskilling and personalized development opportunities. 鈥淲e are incorporating disruptive technologies like our AI-driven skills ontology that automatically incorporates industry trends with embedded intelligence,鈥� said Tim Gregory, managing director of HR Innovation and Workforce Technology at Delta. 鈥淲e can say which skills are most important to Delta Air Lines and the employee can easily combine those with their current capabilities, strengths and styles, and aspirations to create a personal career path. All of the content is based on Delta-specific skills and personalized to each employee鈥檚 career goals.鈥�  

Looking ahead, we will continue to deliver more learning-specific enhancements and new AI capabilities throughout 2024 across all 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions so leaders can hire the best talent and grow their personal skills with individualized plans while building up the compliance and strategic skills needed by the organization.  

Vinita Venkatesh is vice president of Product Management for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Learning. 

What has been most interesting to hear is that 95% of customers we spoke to create their own customized, in-house content. They are recognizing the importance of creating more microlearnings in the form of video tutorials and in-application help. Seventy-nine percent of our customers create online content that learners can self-serve at when they need it. As one customer shared, 鈥淲e are looking for the sweet spot of not overwhelming users with content, to provide the right content at time of need.鈥�

This helps to fully realize the established trend towards learning in the flow of work.

Here are some common pitfalls we have heard from our customers and some tips to consider on how to avoid them:

Not clearly documenting your learning and enablement strategy

While there is a clear focus on creating learning content, the holistic view of the learning ecosystem is not necessarily given the attention it deserves. You wouldn鈥檛 build a house without a solid foundation underneath it.

Consider your enablement strategy to be the foundation for your enablement journey. Clearly document every learning and enablement activity you need to undertake, with detailed timelines, milestones, and roles and responsibilities through the project lifecycle and beyond into business as usual. The enablement strategy should be a document that is communicated widely to all stakeholders in your organization. Your learning approach should be clearly understood by all early in the project.

Diving straight into content creation without a learning needs analysis

All too often, the focus is on creating content as quickly as possible, without the due diligence of carrying out a thorough learning needs analysis beforehand. Consider what happens if you do the 鈥渂ig shop鈥� at the supermarket without a shopping list. You buy things that you don鈥檛 necessarily need and you forget some important things you do need. How much more efficient can that shop be with a clear, itemized list?

If you don鈥檛 base your content creation plan on a learning needs analysis, you risk wasting energy on content that never gets consumed or you miss content that users need, which in turn decreases adoption.听Planning and preparation are key. Take the time to conduct a thorough learning needs analysis.

Focusing on content creation pre-go-live, but having no clear plan on keeping that content current

In a fast-paced project environment, the onus is on getting the learning content created to beat the go-live clock. But what happens then? You鈥檝e finished the big shop and now need to fill up your car鈥檚 tank. You鈥檝e been so focused on driving your car to the destination that you don鈥檛 notice that you have run out of gas. The subject-matter experts and key users you so heavily relied on during the content creation phase go back to their day job or move on. Only 42% of the customers we interviewed have a key user network. Quickly, the content is out-of-date and no one is referencing it anymore. Who is tracking whether it is being consumed? Who is measuring learning effectiveness? Only 17% of our customers create knowledge checks. The content you worked so hard on is quickly dead, forgotten.

Don鈥檛 underestimate the key user network for delivering training and keeping enablement content up-to-date beyond go-live. A key user network is invaluable in a digital learning enterprise. Nurture and invest in that network where you can. Plus, all too often, there is no clear hand-off from the project to business as usual. Plans for this should be in place early, back at the enablement strategy stage. As the old saying goes, 鈥渇ailing to prepare is preparing to fail.鈥�

Takeaways

If you really want to drive adoption, clearly document your enablement strategy, understand the learning needs of your people, and provide the right learning at the right time. To work efficiently, learning content must be continually kept up-to-date, especially in a dynamic cloud world where agility, innovation, and flexibility are key. Have a plan, at the outset, on how you want to get the most out of your learning content and ensure key stakeholders understand the value of tracking content usage and keeping it current.

To understand the learning and enablement activities in more detail, check out the free 麻豆原创 Learning Journey: .

Sarah Gretton is global digital portfolio manager for Learning Services at 麻豆原创.

This is what I heard during my discussion with the first cohort of 麻豆原创鈥檚 , a program that helps equip underrepresented and underserved groups for a career in the tech industry through participation in a free 麻豆原创 Certification course.

How could it be that in a time when companies need to find talent quickly to fill the need for technically skilled roles 鈥� a need that is becoming more urgent by the day 鈥� there is an entire population of determined, driven people who feel as though they do not belong in the tech industry?

The Current State of Diversity in Technology

The numbers speak volumes: only . Only 3% of those jobs are held by Black women and 1% are held by Latina women. For me, it has always been impossible to ignore the lack of representation in the tech industry. I am acutely aware of when I am the only woman in the room 鈥� let alone the only Black woman.

But this is changing. Companies have begun implementing diversity-forward hiring practices to try to minimize barriers for populations that have historically been overlooked. The percentage of rose from 56% in 2016 to 88% in 2021. Though there is now targeted backlash, numerous employers remain committed to their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) goals for the workforce.

These initiatives have proven to be important to younger generations. In a few years, millennials and Gen Z will make up the majority of our workforce 鈥� and they want to work for companies that align with their values. A 2022 survey from the found that 76% of recent graduates indicated that diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts were 鈥渧ery important鈥� or 鈥渆xtremely important鈥� when considering their future employers.

Helping Underserved Groups Break into Tech

If we want diverse workforces, we must support and create targeted channels to source diverse talent. It is imperative that these groups 鈥� including women, people of color, veterans, and others 鈥� are given the resources to excel in high tech. I have seen firsthand how our digital skills initiative is making an impact on individuals and their communities, working to ensure that talent from all backgrounds can participate in this exciting era of technological innovation. At 麻豆原创, we offer training on products like and , whether through programs like the digital skills initiative or on , helping anyone interested in jump-starting their career in tech.听

Without diverse perspectives, we leave out too many pieces of the puzzle to see the big picture. This deficit is particularly obvious in technology, given its influence on everything from how we shop to how we govern. It is unsustainable to expect lasting market viability from products that are developed by and marketed to one type of person. Put simply, employing diverse talent is essential to long-term success.

How Companies Can Recruit Diverse Talent

For companies that are looking for the next pool of employees to solve today鈥檚 business challenges, it is time to consider non-traditional avenues of talent, like graduates from 麻豆原创鈥檚 digital skills initiative. Each cohort comes equipped with 麻豆原创 Certification, self-motivation, and a strong work ethic. This is a special opportunity to pull from a curated group of strong candidates, not just because of their new skills but because of demonstrated curiosity and drive that is not easy to find.

麻豆原创 makes these trained and certified candidates available to recruiters at no charge. Want to get access to 麻豆原创-certified, ready-to-hire talent? Interested in adopting a cohort? to see how you can start hiring and get involved.

Register for the Digital Skills Initiative as a Participant

If you are interested in expanding your career opportunities by learning in-demand skills and achieving an 麻豆原创 Certification free of charge, apply for the digital skills initiative using the . This is a fantastic opportunity for those who want to make a career switch to tech.

To those who never pictured themselves in the tech industry, picture it. There is a place for you. Take this as a sign to invest in yourself and create a new path to success. 

Making an Impact on Future Generations

When I talked with this first cohort of the digital skills initiative, I saw how they take great pride in their certification. For some, these new skills will prove to be life-changing.

My goal is to support initiatives that aim to ensure that everyone, from all backgrounds, can pursue their interests in finding a career in tech. When we leave these doors closed, we not only rob those shut out of the opportunity, but all of us from the creativity, perspectives, and outcomes they could deliver.

I am incredibly proud of 麻豆原创鈥檚 work in empowering people to pursue a career in technology. I believe that we are developing the future of innovation through programs like the digital skills initiative, and I cannot wait to see how similar programs will evolve in the future.

If you are an NGO, university, or an 麻豆原创 partner or customer, contact us at partners.digitalskills@sap.com to learn more. If you are interested in applying to the digital skills initiative, to start your journey.

Etosha Thurman is chief marketing and solutions officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at 麻豆原创.

In times of everything-as-a-service, it is important for 麻豆原创 experts to build modular system architectures for the sustainable enterprise using 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform (麻豆原创 BTP). But unfortunately, according to , maintaining knowledgeable staff and internal skills hindered organizations鈥� technology and business progress.听听

Acknowledging these challenges and embracing the power of 麻豆原创鈥檚 partner ecosystem, 麻豆原创 has launched an enhanced specifically tailored to the needs of partner learners. This new experience features curated 麻豆原创 Learning Journeys, exclusive access to events and subject matter experts, plus the opportunity to earn valuable credentials.

And this 麻豆原创 partner enablement model is not the typical training. As much as a golf coach can explain how to perfect a swing, true learning actually happens when golfers swing the clubs themselves. Similarly, the partner experience on 麻豆原创 Learning can听provide hands-on interaction designed to help build skills using practical scenarios.听Additionally, our newly launched platform can give 麻豆原创 partner learners access to the right resources for a significantly reduced price per user per year 鈥� including certifications.听

Beginning January 2024, 麻豆原创 partners accessing the new learning experience will receive the following:

• Free, self-paced courses that can enable learners to quickly upskill, reskill, and stay up-to-date, offering engaging learning, rightsized to fit the learner鈥檚 day-to-day work needs
• Partner-specific 麻豆原创 Learning Journeys that can enable partners to become an extension of the 麻豆原创 team
• Enhanced analytics, providing the ability to map and track individual skills and to monitor the growth of certified consultants and active learners
• Access to expert-led live sessions
• Unlimited on-demand access to hands-on practice systems
• Four certification exam attempts
• A single starting point for partner digital learning with AI-supported search across content repositories

Keeping skills current is the key to unlocking success, and it ensures access to future job opportunities. It is important to stay relevant in the work that 麻豆原创 professionals do as businesses transform. That is why 麻豆原创 helps make it easier to stay up-to-date with certifications:

• Certification validity will be 12 months from the assessment completion date to the next checkpoint. This supports professionals in staying up to speed with innovations and new methodologies.  
• 麻豆原创 is transforming certifications to become role-based 鈥� such as, enterprise architect or backend developer 鈥� adapting the learning efforts to the needs of the partner consultants. This shift aligns better with the needs of the learner, thus making the training more efficient.

With the new partner experience on 麻豆原创 Learning, partner learners can access free content and take advantage of reduced fees for premium 麻豆原创 partner enablement. They can also get more chances to earn certifications and benefit from extended certification validity and personalized role-based training.

Doubling down on 麻豆原创鈥檚 cloud-only innovation strategy, we continue to focus on developing new talent and capacity in the ecosystem to support the increased future demand for cloud transformation across our customer base.

For more information, visit the partner experience section on the . 

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Tine Vandenbreeden is global VP of Digital Partner Learning at 麻豆原创.

To serve these requirements, 麻豆原创 has provided customers and partners with separate learning and assessment courses on our support offerings, enabling them with support tools and resources that help maximize their support experience. While our customers could benefit from Product Support Accreditation in the past, our partners had access to an equally in-demand enablement course, “Support and Success Essentials for 麻豆原创 Cloud Solutions.” 

Both versions have had great success and it was time to consolidate the best parts of these two accreditations into one impactful learning offering. As of December 5, 2023, we have merged these two options into , making it 麻豆原创鈥檚 baseline support enablement for all consultants. 

What is this new offering in a nutshell? Support Accreditation is a course and assessment that enables customers and partners to make the best use of 麻豆原创鈥檚 support offerings and tools. This accreditation is available for all customers and partners of 麻豆原创 鈥� at no additional cost.

To learn more about the latest developments on the topic, I sat down with Stefan Steinle, executive vice president and head of Customer Support & Innovation, 麻豆原创 SE. 

Q: Can you give a brief description of Support Accreditation? 

A: This training was developed to showcase all the available support services and tools provided by 麻豆原创. We cannot assume that our customers and partners have the bandwidth to research what鈥檚 available 鈥� and this does not just apply to support, it applies to all our offerings at 麻豆原创. We have proactively curated all the tools and related resources that can assist our customers and partners in resolving their issues effectively and efficiently. The four-module course is packed with focus topics, one-page snapshots, how-to videos, and interactive quizzes. As with any course, all eligible participants receive a digital Support Accreditation badge.听听

What about the actual content of the training?听What areas are covered?听听

The course introduces you to channels like Expert Chat, Schedule an Expert, Schedule a Manager, and Ask an Expert Peer, which can enable customers and partners to have direct contact with support. For example, with Schedule an Expert, a customer can have a 30-minute session with an expert to help resolve a specific issue related to a support request. This is valuable information that consultants need.听

Participants can benefit from similar how-to’s and guides on self-service, case prevention, live support channels, and supplementary material. We have a unit on , our application lifecycle management solution that is included in cloud subscriptions. This is a fantastic module that guides users on how they can benefit from an out-of-the-box, cloud-native solution designed as the central entry point to manage customers’ 麻豆原创 landscape with content-driven, guided implementation and highly automated operations. 

To manage expectations, could you also elaborate on what is not covered by this accreditation? 

Expert course content is not covered in this accreditation. For example, we have further deep dives for 麻豆原创 Cloud ALM that are, understandably, not covered in this first-level accreditation.  

Also, this is a learning offering around support topics so enablement on solution knowledge is not in scope. 

What鈥檚 in it for customers? What is the benefit of the course?听

Not every customer is fully aware of the complete suite of support tools. With the Support Accreditation course, they can learn to easily engage with our support teams and to achieve smoother case resolutions. We provide easy-to-use, easy-to-consume self-enablement to any customer or partner at no additional cost. It is a must for all those who interact with the support channels of 麻豆原创.听听

What about partners? 

This training is especially important for partners as most implementation projects are run or supported by them. They also manage most ongoing operations on behalf of the customer.听

Both customers and 麻豆原创 expect partners to manage customer projects and operations with high quality based on 麻豆原创鈥檚 best practices. These include methodologies, tools, services, and procedures 鈥� especially those dealing with upcoming issues.  

We highly recommend the Support Accreditation training 鈥� and the resulting badge 鈥� for every partner consultant.听

What have been the biggest changes you have seen in the course?听听

With every growth milestone at 麻豆原创, you can be sure that there is a corresponding ripple in the world of support. Therefore, we take a lot of effort to keep the training content up-to-date. For example, we now have a whole new unit dedicated to 麻豆原创 Cloud ALM. We are also moving to , having been a standalone application previously. This is a huge development, as the course is now available in the public space. Anyone can participate now that it is opened to a wider audience. Upon successful completion of the course, participants receive a record of achievement.听

We are increasingly moving from a reactionary model to one that is more real-time and predictive. We have AI-powered support offerings that help enrich the customer experience 鈥� for example, new features in Incident Solution Matching.  

Will customers and partners still be able to get their Support Accreditation badge now that the training has moved to the 麻豆原创 Learning site?听

Absolutely. I must say this is a very popular badge in the ecosystem.   

The Support Accreditation badge indicates that the participant has completed the course and has the requisite knowledge to navigate 麻豆原创鈥檚 support channels and offerings. This badge can be used on social media and can also be included in your signature when you interact with our support teams.听

More broadly, how do you use AI in support enablement? 

We use large language models (LLMs) to refine and expand the scope of our existing AI-driven solutions. Based on the learnings from Enhance AI and Assist Support, we utilize LLMs to help generate automated responses to specific how-to questions. This allows us to leverage 麻豆原创 Knowledge Base Articles, 麻豆原创 Notes, and documentation contributions from our experts.  

How popular is the course?听听

Approximately 5,000 customers and partners take part in the course and get their accreditation every year! People who complete the training have the option to provide feedback and rate the content. Currently, the course has a rating of 4.75 out of 5. The numbers speak for themselves!听

Where do you see the course going in the future?听

As always, we keep it simple 鈥� to help you simplify your support priorities. As I said before, the content reflects the ever-changing market growth and business requirements around us. We encourage our customers and partners to renew their Support Accreditation badges once a year to get an update on improvements and enhancements. 

Renuka Abraham is part of Customer Support & Innovation at 麻豆原创.

However, despite the role鈥檚 growing benefits, today鈥檚 developers crave resources for constant career growth and learning so they can keep up with ever-changing job requirements.

麻豆原创 has long offered robust learning and certification opportunities for developers, all of which fueled career growth and opened doors to fantastic opportunities. When we , we started out with seven learning journeys for developers only. Today, we provide more than 140 learning journeys for various roles and skill levels. We are excited to further these offerings with a new role-based certification opportunity and free learning content for backend developers with ABAP Cloud, alongside a new free massive open online course (MOOC), , to help developers build generative AI skills.

There are many reasons why I鈥檓 excited to share these offerings with our developer community, but today I鈥檒l share three key reasons developers will benefit from this new role-based certification in particular.

A True Focus on the Future With AI and ABAP Cloud

Today鈥檚 developers require constant adaptation and learning in order to keep up with the tremendous pace of change in the tech sector. that by 2028, 75% of enterprise software engineers will use AI coding assistants, up from less than 10% in early 2023.

However, AI isn鈥檛 the only fundamental turning point that our ecosystem is seeing. As organizations continue to navigate hybrid work, the continual shift to cloud will continue to be a key player in the tech space. In fact, by 2027, that more than 50% of enterprises will use industry cloud platforms to accelerate their business initiatives, up from less than 15% in 2023.

This trend has led to the emergence of ABAP Cloud, presenting an entirely new version of the language and runtime that鈥檚 available to all customers running ABAP-based applications. ABAP remains highly relevant for developers extending 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, and our new certification gives these developers the opportunity to continue capitalizing on the knowledge they have while upgrading their skills to prepare for the most modern, cloud-ready version of ABAP.

Unlock Doors to Unexpected Career Paths

I鈥檓 always inspired by learner stories, particularly of people whose careers totally transformed.

Take . The 35-year-old from Latvia was optimistic about finding a job after studying European economics around the time Latvia joined the European Union. However, when the 2008 economic crisis hit, she found it increasingly difficult to secure a job. Baiba decided to explore the tech industry, going back to school for computer science and participating in a two week-long intense boot camp where she learned about ABAP and 麻豆原创. She secured a paid internship afterwards, eventually leading to her full-time position at Accenture as an ABAP developer.

鈥淎BAP is evolving and has taken many best practices from the industry,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the backbone of 麻豆原创 and has become a thing where everyone can find something exciting and interesting.鈥�

In some parts of the world, certifications are table stakes to even be considered for a developer position. We strive to unlock barriers to entry and make certifications, such as the ABAP Cloud certification for backend developers, more accessible to learners of all backgrounds.

What I love about this learner story is how Baiba was open to career options outside of what she had studied in school. There is value in 鈥減ivoting鈥� no matter what stage you are in your career journey, as it can unlock doors to an entirely unexpected path.

My own career has taken a variety of twists and turns that led me to lead the 麻豆原创 Learning organization. From consulting to founding a startup to teaching business to joining 麻豆原创 in a corporate strategy role 鈥� I鈥檝e been fortunate throughout my career to see firsthand how being open to a pivot can pay off tremendously.

Focus on Roles and Opportunities, Not on Products

While product-based certifications are necessary for certain roles and responsibilities, we are shifting to more role-based offerings to make the skillset of a learner even more attractive and adaptable in today’s dynamic and evolving job market. The and corresponding learning journeys, covering and the , are designed to help developers with the skills required to build cloud-ready extensions aligned with 麻豆原创鈥檚 clean core strategy, preparing them for a role as an ABAP Cloud backend developer.

By combining the power of ABAP Cloud and business AI skills with the help of 麻豆原创, developers can unlock their full potential and set themselves up for success.听Alongside our , the and free learning content continues our journey to provide more accessible digital skill development opportunities. And there is more to come, with another role-based certification soon to be launched for backend developers using 麻豆原创 Cloud Application Programming Model.

As the industry evolves at a rapid pace, we鈥檒l continue to roll out learning content to equip learners with the skills they need to succeed in the future, no matter their background.

Max Wessel is chief learning officer at 麻豆原创.

麻豆原创 Unveils Innovations in Generative AI Application Development and Vector Database Capabilities as Well as New Learning Opportunities for Developers in the Era of AI

鈥淭oday鈥檚 dynamic technology and business landscape means every developer needs to be an AI developer,鈥� said Juergen Mueller, Chief Technology Officer and member of the Executive Board of 麻豆原创 SE. 鈥淭he innovations we鈥檙e launching at 麻豆原创 TechEd, from AI-infused pro-code tools to a one-stop shop to create generative AI extensions and applications on 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform, support the developers at the heart of the AI revolution and provide them with resources they need to transform the way businesses run.鈥�

As organizations aim to derive business value from generative AI, effective collaboration between professional and citizen developers is essential. 麻豆原创 is launching the 麻豆原创 Build Code solutions, which streamline cooperation with business experts who use the low-code 麻豆原创 Build solutions launched at 麻豆原创 TechEd in 2022. Uniquely built for 麻豆原创 applications and the 麻豆原创 ecosystem, 麻豆原创 Build Code solutions offer AI-powered productivity tools for developers and are optimized for Java and JavaScript development. 麻豆原创 Build Code also draws on the power of 麻豆原创鈥檚 new generative AI copilot Joule 鈥� the copilot that truly understands business 鈥� to further boost productivity, embedding code generation capabilities for data model, application logic and test script creation.

Good data is the foundation of good AI, and 麻豆原创 HANA Cloud continues to pioneer innovation in the data space by adding new vector database features to its multimodel offerings at no additional cost. Vector data stores manage unstructured data 鈥� such as text, images or audio 鈥� to provide long-term memory and better context to AI models. This makes it easy to find and retrieve similar objects quickly. For example, users can search for suppliers based on the language in their contracts to examine payment history and trace individual orders. These powerful new vector database features enhance interactions between large language models and an organization鈥檚 mission-critical data. The innovation helps put 麻豆原创 developers at the forefront of delivering radically new levels of data insight within a secure, private framework that uses industry-specific customer data to reduce hallucinations.

AI Foundation on 麻豆原创 BTP, a new one-stop shop for developers to create AI- and generative AI-powered extensions and applications on 麻豆原创 BTP, will further help increase developers鈥� impact and efficiency. AI Foundation includes everything developers need to start creating business-ready AI tools on 麻豆原创 BTP 鈥� from ready-to-use AI services and access to the top large language models to vector database capabilities and AI runtime and lifecycle management.

The rapid pace of technological innovation has driven up global demand for skilled developers 鈥� and 麻豆原创 is increasing its learning opportunities in tandem. As part of a commitment to upskill two million professionals by 2025 and complement free AI learning content already available, 麻豆原创 today launched and free learning resources for back-end developers using the ABAP Cloud development model. The two new learning resources covering ABAP development tools on 麻豆原创 BTP and 麻豆原创 S/4HANA are available on the . They are designed for agile and cloud-compliant business transformation, providing developers with skills to build cloud-ready extensions that are aligned with 麻豆原创鈥檚 clean core strategy. 麻豆原创 has also joined the Stanford HAI (Institute for Human-Centered AI) . Researchers and engineers at 麻豆原创 will work with the Stanford academic community, including research faculty and students, on the intersection of generative AI and business.

For details on all the announcements made at 麻豆原创 TechEd in 2023, please .

Visit the 麻豆原创 News Center. Follow 麻豆原创 at .

About 麻豆原创

麻豆原创鈥檚 strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent, sustainable enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 麻豆原创 customers generate 87% of total global commerce. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers鈥� businesses into intelligent enterprises. 麻豆原创 helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want 鈥� without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 26 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, 麻豆原创 helps the world run better and improve people鈥檚 lives. For more information, visit .

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Also, the way we learn has transformed due to shifting employee expectations around technology and new work conditions. Balancing compliance and regulatory requirements while enhancing internal mobility, career growth, and the employee experience is now a business essential. Learning must close skills gaps for personal development and align with strategic business needs in today’s marketplace.

The highlights upskilling and talent attraction as key. To predict business needs, organizations must plan and target skills gaps. They must also understand employees’ career goals and take their whole self into consideration for personalized development. This approach creates engaging experiences and aligns with what employees want.

Learning drives transformation but breaking traditional silos challenges skill growth alignment. Many organizations have invested in learning experience platform solutions to increase learner engagement, but this approach alone has not solved the challenge of increasing skills growth across the organization while aligning learning to strategic business goals.

Connected Learning as Strategic Part of Skills Growth

The 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Learning solution is a key part of our broader future-ready workforce strategy to help align the ambitions of people and organizations for shared achievement of accelerated skills growth. Later this year, customers can expect an enhanced integrated learning experience for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Learning.

While this will include a redesigned, revitalized homepage, it will also help identify the many learning options available to employees 鈥� the items that people 鈥渉ave to learn,鈥� such as mandatory learning for safety and compliance; those that they 鈥渘eed to learn鈥� to excel in their roles and achieve business objectives; and what they 鈥渨ant to learn鈥� based on their own interests, aspirations, and motivations.

Here, the integrated learning experience will leverage the framework within the 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors portfolio. The talent intelligence hub is a centralized framework that helps organizations understand the skills their employees have today, the gaps that exist, and the ways in which to close those gaps. With machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered intelligence, the talent intelligence hub can provide highly personalized learning and development recommendations to help ensure employees develop their skills sets while pursuing a career aligned to their ambitions. This accelerates upskilling and reskilling at scale while delivering unique talent experiences for every employee.

This fresh take on corporate learning fosters an intrinsic culture of upskilling within the corporate landscape. Considering employees as a whole 鈥� with a data-driven view of their skills, wants, and needs 鈥� can drive workforce progress in an organic manner. That鈥檚 because a motivated and talented workforce contributes to a future-ready business strategy that employers can sculpt to meet the ever-changing demands of a fluctuating market.

Four Ways to Address the Skills Gap with the New Integrated Learning Experience

1. Prioritize learning opportunities that encourage collaboration, growth, discovery, and curiosity while ensuring employees stay compliant with business and legal objectives.
2. Accelerate upskilling processes through greater visibility, access, and navigation through the integrated learning experience.
3. Improve engagement through experiences that prioritize and organize a learner鈥檚 individual needs, skills, interests, and aspirations.
4. Individualize opportunities and personalized recommendations for learning activities, mentors, temporary assignments, and more, fueling professional development through 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Opportunity Marketplace.

All of this can allow organizations to curate the strategic attributes they expect in their people while also supporting their growth and development aspirations. Being on a skills transformation journey the integrated learning experience has already piqued the interest of organizations looking to support both their employees and their overall business strategies. Simon Wi脽mann, director of Corporate HR at Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, believes 鈥渢hat the new integrated learning experience with its modern look brings added value to our employees by restructuring how mandatory trainings and trainings for personal growth are presented and added to the personal learning journey.鈥� By integrating the new experience with its learning strategy, Wi脽mann is confident that 鈥渋t will help to develop critical skills in our organization by closely linking together talent and learning processes while enabling employees to grow to their full potential.鈥�

This essential focus on employee experience in a more unified way can promote a culture of learning and growth in an organization鈥檚 landscape, which is essential for succinctly meeting critical business objectives. It is increasingly clear that when a company invests in accelerated upskilling solutions to create agile workforces that understand their individualized contributions to the organization鈥檚 overall strategy, it can reap extraordinary benefits.

Want to know more about or the values of upskilling in the modern economy? Read .

Margit Bauer is director of Solution Marketing for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Learning.

Today鈥檚 hype around AI tools like ChatGPT inspires a future state for AI in the world. But business AI is all around us right now, playing a role in helping our customers鈥� businesses become more agile. Right now, AI helps to power 麻豆原创鈥檚 cloud ERP, spend management, customer relationship management, and human capital management business processes. More than 24,000 麻豆原创 cloud customers can already use hundreds of built-in AI capabilities.

AI growth means almost every industry needs people with AI skills at different levels and different depths. As one might expect, AI engineers, coding, and 麻豆原创 are in demand. But there can be other opportunities to enter the field, depending on your interests. Here are five ideas to find your path to a first, second, or even third career in AI.

Spoiler alert: Curiosity and an openness to learning are key!

1. First, Find Your Starting Block

It鈥檚 okay to be a novice!

Every path into the AI arena starts with a of AI concepts, terminology, and applications. Become familiar with key terms like machine learning, deep learning, neural networks, natural language processing, and data analytics. Understand how AI can impact business processes and improve customers鈥�, employees鈥�, partners鈥�, and suppliers鈥� experiences. Then, explore online resources, demos, , and introductory courses to understand basic AI principles. 麻豆原创鈥檚 AI are a great place to start learning in a peer-to-peer setting. Keep watching for a beginner鈥檚 AI learning journey.

2. Think AI Ethics

Humans give AI systems the data they need to function. But if humans provide biased data to an AI system, then the resulting AI system will perform in biased ways. For example, if we deploy AI systems to screen candidates during the hiring process, and the AI system has been given data biased against certain groups, then the AI system could make discriminatory candidate interviewing recommendations.

For AI to work in ways that make our world better, must be interwoven. AI ethicists promote the positive benefits of AI while mitigating potential risks and ensuring fairness, transparency, and respect for privacy and in collaborative processes around developing AI solutions. has a free option to learn the basics.

3. Build Your Project Management Skills

Successful AI project development and implementation require skilled .

Project managers are critical thinkers. They coordinate cross-functional teams, establish project timelines, watch over budgets and schedules, and ensure effective communication between project stakeholders. You will need to understand AI foundational concepts and oftentimes will need to translate between business users and technical teams. Practice breaking down problems into smaller components, identifying relevant variables, and designing effective solutions.

4. Brush Up on Data Science, Analytics, and Data Visualization Skills

AI is only as successful as the data it draws from. Without data, AI systems cannot deliver value. Our customers recognize this as they invest in their data infrastructures as they develop AI applications. When data is valid, accurate, complete, consistent, and uniform across an entire enterprise鈥攁nd contextualized within the business鈥擜I can deliver relevant results.

Seek out , communities, and mentors who can help you learn the different types of data, data collection methods, and data processing techniques. Understand trends and relationships within data. One of the most exciting things about business AI is that there are opportunities to find patterns and insights in data that were formerly undiscoverable. Tools like Python libraries or data analysis platforms like Tableau can be relevant.

5. Tap into Governance, Accountability, and Responsibility

Collaborative AI systems should have clear safety, governance, accountability, and responsibility frameworks. Frameworks should include structures, processes, and regulatory and risk management practices that align with laws, regulations, policies, ethics principles, and the broader ecosystem. As AI develops across industries and individual companies, there will be a need for people who understand the principles of governance, including how to establish metrics, standards, and accountability practices for an AI system鈥檚 behavior.

Embrace the Journey

The rise of AI has transformed the landscape of career opportunities for people 鈥� the potential for new, better jobs that will require a mixture of technical and human skills. The demand is there 鈥� and growing 鈥� for great talent to stand behind the tech! An open mind, genuine curiosity, and a willingness to learn will set you on the right path and will also be necessary as you grow your career.

I am wishing you well in finding the toward a role in shaping the future of AI and its impact on society. Here鈥檚 to a terrific learning journey!

Sabine Bendiek is chief people and operating officer and a member of the Executive Board of 麻豆原创 SE.

However, this is much easier said than done. As leaders look to new initiatives to adapt, low-code/no-code stands out as a holy grail solution. Address the pervasive tech skills gap by bringing non-technical employees into the development and deployment process? Check. Identify an affordable way to leverage unique employee skill sets and integrate members from cross-team functions? Check. A new way to think about technical skills, freeing those in traditional developer roles to focus on creativity and innovation rather than execution? Check.

If you鈥檙e considering what low-code/no-code could look like in the workplace, here are some central considerations to keep in mind and mistakes to avoid when integrating citizen developers into your workforce in effort to create a more innovative IT department.

Citizen Developers Are Not 鈥淛unior鈥� Developers, They Have Their Own Unique Skill Set

Citizen developers, employees that utilize strategies to create new or change existing business applications without involving IT departments, often have nontraditional backgrounds, serving in roles like customer service, human resources, and project management, bringing a new wave of perspectives and ideas to the tech and service industry. While many may be inclined to view citizen developers as 鈥渏unior鈥� developers, this couldn鈥檛 be further from the truth. Since citizen developers are connected to other parts of the business, they can provide insight and streamline processes that developers alone are not involved in. Additionally, citizen developers shouldn鈥檛 be considered a one-to-one replacement of developers. Though they can optimize specific business functions, they do not fix technical holes in the workforce.

Leveraging these unique talents has huge benefits for the entire team: reducing the heavy lift on developers by easing the skills gap, opening the path to new ideas and innovative strategies, and bringing diverse and new perspectives to an IT industry that typically . Acknowledging the benefits of their nontraditional skill set is key to reap the benefits of implementing low-code/no-code in the workforce, as it meshes a unique view on the needs of the business, creativity, and coding skills to drive innovation.

Generative AI Will Fuel Citizen and Professional Developer Roles, Leading to Increased Innovation

Gartner research that 61% of corporations have already implemented citizen development projects or plan to do so. This is great news, because as the skills gap continues to without an equivalent number of new graduates to fill the holes, citizen developers are the natural solution for any department. However, as more organizations get comfortable with these shifts, they will also need to navigate the rapid evolution of generative AI, which will take things one step further for both citizen and professional developers.

Generative AI is continuing to evolve 鈥� and it makes the complexity of coding more accessible. In this sense, it is a low-code tool. Citizen developers will be able to leverage generative AI platforms to complete even more complex initiatives, which will free up the deeply technical computer and data scientists to focus on issues that require an in-depth understanding of how the systems work. With citizen developers able to flex their skills by assisting IT teams and traditional developers focused on strategic advancements, organizations are sure to see an improvement in productivity and employee satisfaction. One thing is certain: low-code/no-code tools, like platforms based on the principles of model-driven design, automatic code generation, and visual programming, are unleashing increased innovation, empowering the workforce, and helping to address skill shortages.

The Best Part about Low-Code/No-Code? The Opportunities Are Endless

The barriers to teaching and integrating low-code/no-code are relatively low, and any employee from any background 鈥� formally educated or not 鈥� can begin their coding journey with ease. Providing access to learning and development opportunities like low-code/no-code trainings opens new career opportunities for the existing workforce, encouraging workers to tap into their personal interest in learning developer skills while taking on a more expansive role in the organization. When employees feel that their interest in expanding their role and learning new parts of the business is being listened to, they also take on an increased sense of fulfillment and interest in the job, leading to heightened employee retention.

It may seem intimidating to start the journey of prioritizing new learning and training opportunities, but the benefits are endless. At our recently held , interested participants from across industries were able to learn the concept of low-code software development through hands-on experience. Learners created full end-to-end processes that integrated with 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, using 麻豆原创 Build Apps, 麻豆原创 Build Process Automation, and 麻豆原创 Build Work Zone. Through this program, dozens of workers were able to expand their technical knowledge and dive deeper into the world of low-code/no-code.

To begin implementing low-code/no-code strategies in your department, consider leveraging training for all levels 鈥� from beginner to advanced 鈥� and build time into the workday for those who are interested in learning. Putting an emphasis on this opportunity, and on the learning and development of your employees, is sure to make an impact on your teams.

The Future of IT Is Rapidly Changing, But Shining Bright

As technology continues to rapidly evolve, it鈥檚 essential that IT teams are properly equipped to grow alongside it. With low-code/no-code and the rise of the citizen developer, the opportunities are limitless to what the technical workforce can accomplish, with employees of every background poised to get involved in the digital transformation across the industry. Not only will integrating citizen developers into your teams allow your organization to diversify its workforce, but it can also create new innovations in your strategy and address the employee burnout and stress on developers who cannot keep up with the growing skills gap.

Timo Schuette is global vice president of 麻豆原创 Product Learning CoE at 麻豆原创.

This year, we鈥檙e focused on facilitating the career growth of existing 麻豆原创 professionals as demand for their skills accelerates faster and faster. As of today, three major innovations will bring even more support to these professionals around the globe. Our future-focused is now available to anyone with an Internet connection. We also introduced our plan to make 麻豆原创 Learning Hub the gateway to an unparalleled learning experience. Finally, we launched a role-based certification for enterprise architects, today鈥檚 most in-demand and best-paid role in the industry.

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All these innovations are part of our ongoing commitment to support workforce reinvention. We believe that in times of change, we have the remarkable opportunity to put our community in the position to seize career opportunities and accelerate business transformation.

It Starts with the Right Future-Focused Learning

From supply chain shortages and rising gas prices to inflation and shifting customer needs, many organizations rely on automated processes that enable them to adapt to an ever-changing business landscape and drive success. In this volatile atmosphere, tens of thousands of organizations have to support them on their path to a technological future, leading to skyrocketing demand for 麻豆原创 talent.

To meet this increasing demand and to help businesses succeed on their cloud journey, 麻豆原创 is making our strategic 鈥� all that is needed is an Internet connection. By lowering the barrier to accessing this content, more professionals can prepare for cloud-driven projects while staying on track with continuous learning, enhancing their digital skill set. In turn, customers can expect to gain a competitive advantage in their industry by equipping their employees with these tools and resources.

It Pays to Be an Enterprise Architect 鈥� In More Ways than One

As organizations continue to shift more of their workload to the cloud, we also see that the role of the enterprise architect is becoming increasingly vital. Bridging the gap between business and technology, enterprise architects ensure companies can reach their desired business outcomes through the effective use of technology. Recent numbers prove the demand for this role: it was ranked as , highlighting high job satisfaction and a competitive salary.

Recognizing the advantages that the role of enterprise architect can offer both individuals and organizations, we have introduced the first role-based certification program for professionals aspiring to become an enterprise architect today. This prerequisite intermediate certification demonstrates comprehensive understanding of 麻豆原创 solutions, business, and strategic aspects of enterprise architecture and ultimately helps 麻豆原创 professionals to increase career security and growth. At the same time, the certification can provide organizations with the confidence that their employees are gaining the competitive skills needed to drive significant business value on a large scale.

鈥淎SUG enthusiastically supports 麻豆原创鈥檚 enterprise architect certification program and recommends that every 麻豆原创 customer sponsor their enterprise architects to complete the certification and require any partner working on their behalf to be certified,鈥� said Geoff Scott, CEO and chief community champion, ASUG.

We believe that, in addition to investing in the upskilling of students and minorities in tech with our digital skills initiative to equip the next generation of IT workers, we have now taken an immense step to support professionals and organizations in the 麻豆原创 ecosystem with this in-demand certification.

A Successful Workforce Transformation Requires Transparency and Insights

As many professionals are experiencing changing expectations surrounding their current roles and are looking to meet these shifts and advance in their careers, we must deliver new ways to help them upskill. After all, it is estimated that . We have seen that the rate of success surrounding upskilling can rise further when leadership has access to data that allows them to guide their workforce transformation according to their specific business needs.

To take these circumstances into account, we have announced a new 麻豆原创 Learning site integration where subscribers to 麻豆原创 Learning Hub will have seamless access to digital courses, streamlining training programs to strengthen their digital skill set and help drive transformation for their company as a whole. With this new integration, .

For the first time, subscribers to the private cloud version of 麻豆原创 Learning Hub can benefit from exclusive learning management and reporting functionalities across solutions and platforms. These enhancements enable customers to access key insights and analytics that can help them plan and control their team鈥檚 skills transformation with transparency and help ensure long-term business value. For example, , an improvement in talent acquisition and retention, and a more resilient workforce.

At 麻豆原创, we recognize the challenges and opportunities that transformation presents both to our customers and 麻豆原创 professionals, which is why we have taken the next step in paving the way for unparalleled career growth and business transformation. By equipping employees with the tools and resources they need to enhance their skill set, organizations can reach new heights while employees increase their potential for future career opportunities.

Max Wessel is chief learning officer at 麻豆原创.

To keep their competitive edge in the job market, professionals need to upskill and reskill in increasingly shorter intervals, but numbers show that . At the same time, traditional education is losing relevance in many industries, with organizations increasingly moving away from a sole focus on university degrees. Instead, short courses, certifications, and practical skills have become increasingly important.

Recognizing the need for transparency around proven project expertise, 麻豆原创 enhanced its established skill validation program for 麻豆原创 professionals. The company is paving the way for individual career growth and business success by introducing a record of project experience in a pilot with first partners like Accenture and IBM.

We believe the enhanced visibility of practical experience can benefit well seasoned 麻豆原创 professionals and set them up for success. In addition to their 麻豆原创 Certification, a record of project experience can help expand competitive edge and, ultimately, foster career growth. Recent reports show that . The same report states that 81% of certified employees produce higher quality work, while 77% are more innovative.

鈥淭he record of project experience can help the 麻豆原创 ecosystem drive success by making the practical and successful project expertise of professionals visible,鈥� says 麻豆原创 Chief Learning Officer Max Wessel. 鈥淭ens of thousands of customers have deployed 麻豆原创 software to thrive in the cloud, leading to a skyrocketing demand for skilled people. With the record of project experience, partners can benefit from a tailored recognition of expertise past the certification and a higher employee retention rate. Customers can expect high-quality projects and fast implementation. And 麻豆原创 professionals have the chance to put themselves in the lead on the job market. It鈥檚 a true win-win situation for all.鈥�

麻豆原创 partners oversee almost 90% of all 麻豆原创 implementations, representing a huge pool of talented and experienced 麻豆原创 professionals. This new approach adds the validation of practical experience and 麻豆原创 expertise. It supports 麻豆原创’s mission to address the shortage of digital skills in the partner ecosystem. Newly certified consultants will provide support in cloud computing, digital transformation, and analytics to improve the quality of services offered by 麻豆原创 partners to their customers.

Professionals are eligible if they have customer references showing the applied and certified skills. The record of project experience is awarded to nominated advanced 麻豆原创 professionals with a track record of expertise in the public edition of 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud or 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform (麻豆原创 BTP), who also demonstrate a valid 麻豆原创 Certification in one of these 麻豆原创 solution areas.

Co-validating expertise strengthens an employee’s position, leads to higher employee retention for employers, and gives customers the confidence that fast implementations and high-quality projects are on the way. That鈥檚 a triple win.

To learn more, visit the .

Steffen Burger is senior vice president of Partner Solution Adoption for Partner Ecosystem Success at 麻豆原创.

In the midst of this uncertainty, keeping IT workers abreast of innovative technologies and the skills to implement them is a balancing act. To stay at the forefront of industry change, learning must be considered more than a priority 鈥� it needs to be a core pillar of every organization. IT upskilling is key in today鈥檚 landscape to drive employee satisfaction and organizational success. Here are three of the top reasons to invest in learning and development opportunities and how the benefits can be articulated to leadership to ensure they consider learning a top priority, too.

Invest in Your Employees 鈥� and They Just Might Stick Around

While layoffs seem to be dominating the headlines, employees are quitting their jobs at the rate of layoffs. Retaining strong talent remains a competitive pursuit, and organizations are feeling the impacts of this challenge. Now, would consider leaving their current role because there aren鈥檛 enough opportunities for skill development or career advancement. The truth is that adequate training directly impacts retention. An important factor in how employees evaluate their organization is based on the opportunities they鈥檙e provided to learn the skills that will catapult them towards reaching their goals. Learning and development opportunities can equip employees with essential leadership skills that can elevate their current position and pave the way for internal advancement.

By offering learning programs, and therefore showing the workforce that leaders are invested in their growth, executive teams will realize a multitude of benefits. Individuals will feel valued and excited by new challenges and upskilling opportunities, making them more likely to be happy with their current role. Beyond this, they鈥檒l build a workforce that is equipped with the latest knowledge to drive meaningful outcomes for the organization.

Fostering Creativity, Innovation, and Curiosity

The tech industry is evolving 鈥� fast. From generative artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to immersive-reality technologies, digital transformation has raised the bar on the skills required of teams today. Inspiring employees to lead innovative strategies can feel daunting when the workforce is not properly equipped with the latest knowledge to take on new initiatives. When employees do not feel prepared, they are less likely to be enthusiastic about taking on new responsibilities or raise their hand to lead a project that is outside of their comfort zone. In fact, think the skills shortage is the biggest barrier to the adoption of game-changing technologies.

To combat this hesitation and encourage workers to tackle new challenges, leaders must recognize that learning and development opportunities enable IT teams to feel prepared and excited to move forward on adopting new workplace technologies. This ultimately increases efficiency and allows more time and space for innovation and creativity.

Steve Lucas, 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud application consultant at Sapphire Systems, has seen how learning, for instance with , can drive innovation firsthand. 鈥淓arning an 麻豆原创 Certi铿乧ation is important to not just my future but the future of my company. It ensures we鈥檒l both meet our goals and remain at the forefront of 麻豆原创鈥檚 latest innovations,鈥� he said.

Tackling the Persistent Skills Gap Challenge

The skills gap remains top-of-mind for leaders across industries as technical roles continue to evolve and competition for top talent remains high. Due to the speed of innovation, over to do their jobs successfully in the coming years.

While some employees may be able to make time outside of work hours for learning and development, many have competing personal priorities 鈥� meaning encouraging employees to seek upskilling opportunities outside of their nine-to-five may set them on a path of frustration and burnout. Instead, bring training programs directly to them and build a few uninterrupted hours into their workday so that employees can devote themselves to learning without navigating demanding tasks at the same time. This simple solution can mitigate burnout and ensure everyone is receiving the information they need to be successful in their roles 鈥� now and in the future.

For example, learning programs like or basics can quickly and efficiently equip employees with the skills they need by educating them on the latest platforms and technology necessary to keep up with digital transformation efforts. These programs can also level the playing field among teams, increasing workers鈥� value and purpose within their current role.

The Return on Learning and Development? Priceless.

While it鈥檚 true that that investing in learning and development is a commitment 鈥� both in budget and in resources 鈥� the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. It鈥檚 easy to deprioritize learning when the time and money that goes into upskilling can seem like an optional expense, but in today鈥檚 workplace culture, it is essential. Companies who invest in learning and development opportunities will reap the benefits almost immediately and will equip their teams for a future of innovation, creativity, and equitable opportunities for growth, ultimately leading to higher retention, empowered employees, and a more secure workforce.

Jan Meyer is head of Learning Systems at 麻豆原创.

A leader in technology communications, Vodafone Group Plc digitally connects more than 350 million customers with voice and data services for mobile, fixed line, the Internet of Things (IoT), and television throughout Europe and Africa. Vodafone lives its purpose to connect technology and humanity for a better future. Its motto: 鈥淭ogether we can.鈥�

This vision drives Vodafone鈥檚 global transformation into a next-generation connectivity and digital services provider that delivers sustainable growth. As innovation is fundamental to its business strategy, Vodafone is investing in cloud HR to transform its culture and elevate the employee experience as it reinvents the workplace to 鈥渂uild the human spirit of technology.鈥�

鈥淲e relied on ,鈥� says Marc Starfield, group head of HR Systems and Programs, Vodafone Group, who is leading the project to provide value-driven HR capabilities throughout the organization. 鈥淲e鈥檝e implemented all the HR processes and functions on one global environment supporting around 100,000 employees in 24 key markets.鈥�

By putting employee experience at the heart of digital transformation, Vodafone ensures that HR is integrated in strategic decision-making that impacts the entire organization. 鈥淭his for me speaks to ensuring that any HR intervention, or all HR interventions, should directly contribute to new organizational outcomes,鈥� says Starfield, who has an established track record for success in managing HR transformations at leading global organizations. 鈥淸It] also speaks to how we think about people. Every person in our organization needs to believe and feel that they are part of a growth environment where everybody has opportunity to thrive.鈥�

Building a High-Performance Learning Culture

Vodafone identified that one of its most pressing HR business needs required investment for critical digital and technical skills. The company wants to add 7,000 software engineers to its technology capability by 2025. To set itself up for success, it is giving top priority to building an equitable and representative workforce that is supported by a strong employer brand.

To leverage the brilliant potential in the organization, the company is doubling down on upskilling and reskilling its workforce for improved employee engagement. Vodafone aims to make learning an integral part of every person鈥檚 day and, as Starfield says, 鈥渢o ensure people feel empowered to own their development in easy-to-find tools and to drive their growth.鈥�

Integrating Cloud HR for Actionable Insights

Vodafone began its HR transformation journey by implementing cloud-based 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions to help integrate all functions, processes, and data. The team worked with 麻豆原创 partner for AI-driven talent attraction and processes, to help ensure end-to-end process enablement. The flexibility of (麻豆原创 BTP) has enabled Vodafone to address any unique requirements.

With the pilot rollout of 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions for , integrated with , Vodafone is enabling real-time exploration of roles, costs, and environments. The company aims to gain visibility into sourcing and attracting the skills it needs for its future success. Starfield explains, 鈥淭he ultimate objective is to inform the resourcing operational plans in each market and the talent and learning interventions globally but also at a market level.鈥�

Vodafone also needed to consolidate multiple sources of data for better insight and intelligence. Building a unified foundation for analytics is helping the company achieve 鈥渢otal workforce understanding鈥� that includes data from solutions. Starfield describes this integration as 鈥渃ounting and understanding every heartbeat working, irrespective of the legal relationship to our organization.鈥�

Employee Experience: Simple, Accessible, Personalized

Vodafone has already achieved impressive results with its HR transformation. The project has generated greater efficiency and introduced hyper-automation from AI-powered tools. Vodafone has increased the number of new hires (+26%), improved diversity in hiring (+19%), and reduced candidate cycle times from 24 to 12 days. Its overall net promoter scores have jumped from -15 to +47.8.

The new mobile-enabled employee experience, using 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions for employee self-service, ensures that employees can access Vodafone鈥檚 HR system from anywhere and at any time. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really critical that we provide access to information and processes at a time and in a way which best suits employees,鈥� says Starfield. 鈥淩eally central to this is making sure that the information we present to employees is personal and purposeful.鈥�

Furthermore, to advance its vision for a high-performance learning culture, Vodafone has adopted a 鈥渨hole person鈥� view of each employee to accelerate learning and talent development at all levels of the organization. It also uses (LXP), built for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors customers, to blend 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Learning and 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Work Zone for a personalized, captivating experience that offers unlimited learning resources. The engagement on the learning platform has been outstanding, as employees have completed more than 555,000 hours of learning within six months of the launch date and created more than 32,000 skills profiles in the system.

Starfield attributes this success to making it easy for employees to find learning and development aligned with their goals. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all about making it really simple for people to understand where they are in their development journey,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut also understand how they can address anything they are interested in and any potential skills gaps they have.鈥�

To learn more about Vodafone鈥檚 amazing HR transformation, including lessons learned and advice, watch the .

For some people, this outlook is especially bitter. , women hold only 26% of computing-related jobs today. And the number for people from ethnic minorities drops even lower. Accessing digital skills and securing a fulfilling, well-paid job in the tech industry often seems out of reach for them. 鈥淲hen I was young, I didn鈥檛 really know what I was passionate about,鈥� says Karen Rodrigues from Brazil in a recent blog post on . 鈥淭he only thing I knew was that I wanted to get a job and earn money. My parents also had a specific idea of what my career should look like. So, I started my studies in business administration and accounting, got my degrees, and got my first job in this area.鈥� For women like Rodrigues, a career in tech had never been up for debate.

Gender Stereotypes Are Often the Root

One of the reasons why women 鈥� or people of color for that matter 鈥� often don鈥檛 have a career in the IT industry in mind are gender stereotypes. When people think of the technology industry, they usually associate young White males with developer roles. These stereotypes often originate in the experiences and ideologies we encountered in our childhood and school years. And many of them are here to stay. The fact that the IT industry is much more diverse, both in terms of the workforce and the roles that exist within it, is often overlooked or not explored further. In Rodrigues’ case, it took an opportunity to turn her life around.

鈥淚 received an opportunity that would send me on a completely different path: ,鈥� the 麻豆原创 mentor explains. 鈥淚 asked myself, 鈥楽hould I quit my job in accounting and do something different altogether?鈥� It was a hard decision.鈥�

Rodrigues was brave enough to do it. 鈥淚 decided to take the leap, but the transition into tech wasn鈥檛 easy. Back then, the industry was still very much dominated by men. I was the only woman, and I was judged because of that. I was told I talk too much, have a different style, and maybe wasn鈥檛 even suited to be in this area. But I was confident that this was the place for me. I wanted to be a woman in tech.鈥�

She worked hard to show that she was competent and had the skills to succeed. 鈥淚t is my belief that knowledge is power and the key to success. You must study and you have to take action to change your life,鈥� she adds. 鈥淚 am glad that there are opportunities to upskill.鈥�

Many Make Use of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Digital Skills Initiative

One opportunity to gain the digital skills needed to succeed in what鈥檚 to come is 麻豆原创鈥檚 latest . Launched in November 2022 with the goal of further lowering the barrier to accessing digital skills and reaching those who are currently underrepresented in tech, the initiative has been met with great interest. Around 4,000 women, people from ethnic minorities, or individuals from rural areas, for instance, have already applied online and started with . Following the completion of a course and thanks to 麻豆原创鈥檚 sponsorship of 10,000 free exam vouchers, they will be able to get a sought-after to help acquire a secure and well-paid job within the industry. And .

With 655,000 learners in 2021 and more than 1 million in 2022, hopes to bring a world-class learning experience to even more people with this initiative. But it doesn鈥檛 stop there. To take efforts further, 麻豆原创 is actively seeking partners and customers to explore sponsorship and internship options for some candidates who pass this certification exam. This can also lead to a full-time employment opportunity. Many of those will also be made available on the new , where 3 million members exchange on career advice and paths on a regular basis.

Employers Seek Tens of Thousands of Technology Consultants

As businesses rely on technology consultants to advise and manage the implementation of IT systems and provide guidance when training staff, the demand is set to increase in the coming years in this area. In the U.S. alone, there were more than 50,000 technology consultant job postings in the last year.*

To make a valuable contribution to upskilling future technology consultants, 麻豆原创 has also launched a partnership with Coursera at the end of 2022. One hundred and ten million subscribers of all backgrounds can prepare for an entry-level on Coursera鈥檚 Web site 鈥� no college degree or prior experience required. The certificate comprises seven courses, four of which are available today with the rest rolling out over the coming months. Altogether, the certificate can be completed in about five to six months and more than 9,000 Coursera subscribers have already enrolled in the courses.

鈥淣ever Too Late to Learn Something New鈥�

鈥淚 have seen a lot of people who were waiting for the right moment to steer their lives in a new direction,鈥� Rodrigues explains. 鈥淭hey were not ready for something new, or they were simply afraid. But living in the past is not good. Yesterday can鈥檛 do anything for you; today can. But I wish I had known that back then. I wish I had been more disciplined in the past. Time is valuable.鈥�

Rodrigues was and still is curious. She set out to learn something new and built a successful work life as a woman in tech. She has navigated an industry that is still very much dominated by men and has fought against gender stereotypes with discipline and trust in her abilities. She never settles for less and that makes her a role model for many women worldwide. Her advice is loud and clear: 鈥淚t鈥檚 never too late to learn something new. I can only encourage you to learn and to go for the next challenge. Strive for something higher, and you will grow 鈥� professionally but, most importantly, personally.鈥�

You can read Rodrigues鈥� full blog post on her .

*Lightcast™ (2022, US-only), Job Postings report (September 2021 鈥� September 2022). Retrieved October 2022.

Sabine Benz is global VP and head of Product Engagement at 麻豆原创 Learning.