Talent Development in the Age of AI

Today, we have infinite amounts of data at our fingertips, and ubiquitous channels to access and interact with it.  AI has revolutionized how we search for, filter, and interpret information. It's also drastically accelerated the pace at which we can understand complex topics—it's a tool that can both help us learn and teach others.

What role does advanced technology have in higher education and talent development?

In a world where technology evolves this exponentially, skills—especially technical ones—have an increasingly shorter shelf life. As Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has noted, GPU-based compute processing is now outpacing Moore's Law, fundamentally transforming how we work and learn. This pace of change is challenging, but it also presents unprecedented opportunity. This technology isn't just a tool for efficiency—it's a catalyst for democratizing access to the knowledge economy. It enables more personalized learning paths, instant feedback loops, continuous adaptation with real-time updates and industry examples, and above all, experience with practical application of AI tools.

Paired with the accessible library of online, technology specific training (like Salesforce Trailhead, ServiceNow Now Learning, Microsoft Learn), the ability to upskill in this new world is quite literally at your fingertips.

But in our experience, "if you want to go fast go alone; if you want to go far, go together."

University partnerships play a key role in preparing for the jobs of the future.

ATG's partnership with the University of Montana began shortly after the office was established in Missoula in 2011. Leaders like Tom Stergios, Holly Colbert, Ezekiel Baied, MBA, Claude Sammoury, and Kym Corwin were engaged in classrooms at the College of Business, providing insight on BMIS 372 (cloud infrastructure) presentations and participating on the Curriculum Advisory Board. UM Professors like David Firth and Jason Triche and esteemed industry partners like Peter Coffee were instrumental in supporting that collaboration. A few years later, University of Montana President Seth Bodnar led a new era of employer partnerships by establishing Accelerate Montana, led by Scott Whittenburg, Paul Gladen, and Michael Braun.

When I started working at ATG Cognizant in 2019, the organization had a very strong reputation in the talent development space. After the Cognizant acquisition, ATG had the unique opportunity to supercharge and scale their workforce training programs—resulting in the creation of Aim Higher, a 12-week, paid training program with national acclaim.

“Without the university, this program would not have been possible. There was a lot of innovation and planning that went into this.” -Tom Stergios, former SVP of Strategy at ATG Cognizant June 28, 2019

"It's a great example of a university-community collaboration and partnership. Our job is to serve the needs of the state of Montana, to be responsive to our employers' needs and to prepare our students well to meet those needs."  -University of Montana President Seth Bodnar, June 28, 2019

The success of this program was only possible through the power of partnerships!

University of Montana + Missoula College + Accelerate Montana + Cognizant + Salesforce = a partnership that delivered exponentially more than the sum of its parts.

Since launching, Aim Higher hosted seven cohorts of learners, leading to 224 individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds being hired into technology consulting careers.

Five years later, the technology ecosystem has continued to rapidly transform, but our experience and takeaways running the program can be applied in new ways to meet the needs of the current moment.

What did we learn?

• Public x Private collaboration works.
• Virtual learning environments work - with the right tools and culture.
• Fostering a sense of team and community are invaluable.
• Traditional tech or educational backgrounds are not mandatory to be successful.
• Success breeds success - those who have just been through a training are best and helping the next cohort succeed, creating a progress flywheel.
• Accountability and validation are essential. 
• Have a vision and plan to execute, but be ready to actively monitor and adjust along the way. 

Craton is focused on applying what we learned to the present moment. Harnessing deep domain expertise, scalable consulting best practices, and unprecedented talent development opportunities, we are uniquely positioned to drive successful outcomes for companies considering Montana in their growth strategy.

What's next?

This is the first of a few different Craton viewpoints on accelerating pathways for job seekers and pipelines of exceptional candidates for employers. Craton has a great intersection of mission and vision with the Montana Jobs Network (the nonprofit arm of the Montana High Tech Business Alliance), and public partners like the Department of Commerce, the Department of Labor and Industry, and the Department of Indian Affairs. We are focused on helping more individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds—and all 56 counties and 8 tribal nations in Montana—prepare for the jobs of the future by building on our strong history of public private partnerships.

If you'd like to share ideas or learn more about Craton's perspective on talent development, please feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn or via email at [email protected].