The AI Skills Gap: What It Really Takes to Bring a Workforce on the Journey

👉 Discover how Cambridge Spark helps organisations build the data and AI capabilities needed to turn strategy into measurable impact: cambridgespark.com

The technology is the easy part. Getting people ready for it, that's the hard part.

In this special compilation episode, Dr Raoul-Gabriel Urma steps back from the individual conversations and zooms out to one of the most persistent themes across the show in 2026: AI skills and literacy. Because no matter the industry, the company size, or the stage of the AI journey, the same challenge keeps surfacing. How do you get an entire workforce genuinely ready?

You'll hear from Jessica Rusu, Chief Data, Information and Intelligence Officer at the FCA, on building T-shaped skills for an uncertain future. From Nick Edwards and Harj Johal at the AA on the combination of tooling, training, and space to practise that has driven rapid, organisation-wide progress. From Sarah Self at Aviva on why democratising AI is as much a cultural imperative as a commercial one. And from senior data and AI leaders at Santander UK, Oxford Saïd Business School, and TransUnion on curiosity, fear, and what genuinely high-performing teams look like in an era of AI.

A compelling, cross-industry episode for anyone thinking about the people side of AI transformation. These, however, are just the highlights. Find links to every full episode below:

Jessica Rusu: Apple - Spotify - YouTube

Nick Edwards & Harj Johal: Apple - Spotify - YouTube

Sarah Self: Apple - Spotify - YouTube

Mark Bramwell: Apple - Spotify - YouTube

Luke Pearce: Apple - Spotify - YouTube

Kevin Cassar: Apple - Spotify - YouTube

Conny Ploth: Apple - Spotify - YouTube

Sudhish Mohan: Apple - Spotify - YouTube

Follow Data and AI Mastery to stay ahead of the conversations shaping the future of data and AI.

Chapter Markers

(00:00) Introduction and welcome

(01:31) Harj Johal, The AA: curiosity as the defining skill for AI adoption

(03:14) Nick Edwards, The AA: tooling, upskilling and watching the water level rise

(05:05) Sarah Self, Aviva: democratising AI and the case for broad access

(08:01) Mark Bramwell, Oxford Saïd Business School: leading through uncertainty and creating a culture of FOMO

(10:03) Luke Pearce, Santander UK: removing fear and augmenting expertise

(11:14) Jessica Rusu, FCA: T-shaped skills and building flexibility for the future

(13:31) Kevin Cassar, TalkTalk: the value of continued learning and the apprenticeship experience

(16:13) Conny Ploth: reimagining upskilling for the 21st century

(19:14) Sudhish Mohan, TransUnion: curiosity over credentials

(21:47) Closing reflections

Useful Links

Follow Dr Raoul-Gabriel Urma on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/raoulurma

Visit the Cambridge Spark Website: https://cambridgespark.com/