AI Strategy Consultant & Technology Advisor | Helping SMEs & Nonprofits Navigate AI Implementation | Former Engineering Director
OpenAI's plan to certify 10 million Americans in AI skills by 2030 is ambitious. Fidji Simo acknowledges that "upskilling or reskilling programs have a mixed record, and haven't always led to better jobs or higher wages"—then immediately claims they've cracked the code through scale and partnerships. I'm not convinced. The gap between "certified" and "competent" can be vast, and I've spent enough time with organisations to know that context matters more than scale. The real challenge isn't teaching people how to write prompts. It's helping them understand when AI is the right tool for the job, when it isn't, and how to integrate it thoughtfully into their specific workflow without creating new problems. A retail assistant at Walmart, a policy analyst in Delaware, and a manufacturing engineer at John Deere all need different AI skills applied in completely different contexts. One certification programme (no matter how well designed) can't possibly address that specificity. This isn't a criticism of OpenAI's initiative. The partnerships with major employers suggest they understand this challenge. But for the organisations I work with, the question isn't whether their people can pass an AI certification. It's whether they can use AI to solve the actual problems they face every day. That requires something much harder to scale: understanding your specific context, constraints, and opportunities. And that's exactly why the best AI implementations I've seen start with the problem, not the technology.
Whenever I talk with people about AI, one of the first questions I get is almost always: what will this mean for my job? I believe AI will open up more opportunities than any technology in history – but it will also change how work gets done. Today we’re announcing OpenAI-Certified and the OpenAI Jobs Platform – two new initiatives that are about helping people become fluent in AI and connecting them with employers who need their skills. We can’t eliminate the disruption AI will bring, but we can make sure the benefits are shared broadly, not just by a fortunate few. This is one big step in the right direction.
