IBM and Pearson have announced a strategic global collaboration to develop a suite of AI-powered personalized learning tools aimed at helping businesses, public organizations, educational institutions, and individual learners rapidly build the skills needed in the AI-driven economy, addressing a significant skills gap highlighted by Pearson’s research that inefficient career transitions and skill mismatches could cost the U.S. economy an estimated $1.1 trillion in lost earnings annually. The initiative will leverage IBM’s watsonx Orchestrate and watsonx Governance technologies to create new learning products available worldwide and will also include a custom AI-enabled learning platform akin to IBM’s Consulting Advantage that blends human expertise with AI assistants, agents, and assets to drive product growth and transform Pearson’s internal workflows, productivity, and data-informed decision-making. As part of the partnership, IBM’s customers and its 270,000 employees will gain access to Pearson’s enterprise learning solutions such as Credly for digital credentialing, Faethm for workforce planning, and Pearson Professional Assessments, which administers IBM’s professional certification exams globally.
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The companies also intend to explore tools for validating AI agent capabilities so organizations can deploy them with confidence, combining IBM’s experience in responsible AI with Pearson’s expertise in skills development and recognized credentials. “Technology is evolving faster than human skills can keep pace. To close this gap, learning must be embedded seamlessly into the flow of work. When people learn where work happens, it has an immediate impact on productivity and performance,” said Omar Abbosh, CEO of Pearson. “Together with IBM, we’re building trusted AI-powered learning tools that will help people and organizations adapt, learn, and thrive in a world of constant change.” “Whether you’re leading a company or just graduating, everyone needs to build new skills for the AI era,” said Arvind Krishna, CEO of IBM. “IBM and Pearson are bringing AI-powered education to more organizations to help people learn faster. We help companies and their teams adapt to change and succeed. At the same time, we support Pearson in transforming its internal operations.” This alliance boosts Pearson’s strategy. It builds strong partnerships. These partnerships improve customer outcomes, speed up marketing efforts, and promote global growth.