Most workforce upskilling programmes are judged on completion rates, not on the business impact they create. Over the past decade, Cambridge Spark has built a different model in the UK: AI apprenticeships designed around measurable business outcomes, where apprentices apply what they learn to real projects from the outset. In this session, Raoul-Gabriel Urma, Founder and CEO of Cambridge Spark, a pioneer of AI apprenticeships in the UK that has trained thousands of apprentices for organisations such as Pfizer, Lloyds Banking Group, GSK and the NHS, shares how that model works in practice and what can be adapted for the US.

The session will cover:

• The UK delivery model: how AI apprenticeships are structured, how employers use them to build capability at scale, and how they have evolved as AI has become an everyday workplace skill
• Delivering ROI: why we measure success on business outcomes rather than learner completion alone, and the business-oriented framework we use to link apprenticeship investment to measurable results
• Learner support: how technical mentoring, workplace application and an AI-powered learning platform combine so apprentices stay on track and deliver from day one

Bio:

Dr. Raoul-Gabriel Urma is a computer scientist, educator and entrepreneur focused on how AI transforms the workforce. He is the Founder and Group CEO of Cambridge Spark, an AI enablement partner that helps organisations such as Lloyds Banking Group, GSK, AXA and the NHS build AI capability across their workforce and translate it into measurable business results. Raoul holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Cambridge and is a graduate of Harvard Business School's OPM programme. He is the author of best-selling software engineering books, hosts the Data and AI Mastery Podcast, and chairs the YPO AI/ML subnetwork.