“If you don’t adopt it, you will be left behind.”

Mary Alice Vuicic, Chief People Officer at Thomson Reuters says her business couldn’t be clearer with its employees about the need to develop artificial intelligence (AI) skills.

Like most businesses in the past two years, the information services behemoth has issued a strong ultimatum to staff about the importance of getting comfortable with the technology that (depending on who you ask) is causing a revolution, tsunami, or apocalypse within the world of work.

Unlike most, however, Thomson Reuters has already achieved substantial AI adoption across its workforce. Over 11,000 employees of its 26,000-strong global workforce have completed the company’s ‘AI Foundations’ course to date. Moreover, 48% used generative AI tools in August 2024 alone (up from a 37% average in Q2).

Speaking exclusively to HR Grapevine, Vuicic brings us up to speed with the journey so far – from hackathons and executive mandates to governance frameworks and test environments – and reveals how the company has supported its employees through the firm mandate for change.

How is Thomson Reuters helping employees learn about AI?

To start, Vuicic says, we must go back three decades: “This is not new to us," she begins.

Having embedded AI and machine learning into its core business for three decades, Thomson Reuters can boast more history than most in the journey of AI adoption.

That depth of experience has served the company extremely well since enterprise-grade generative AI exploded into our lives two years ago. Recognizing the need for an immediate shift in investment strategy, product roadmap, and colleague capabilities to boot, the business committed to training and reskilling its 26,000 employees.

Vuicic says the company understands the all-in commitment to AI adoption was – and is – daunting to many. According to Thomson Reuters’ latest Future of Professionals report, while 44% of professionals are excited about generative AI entering their industry, more than one third remain hesitant.

So, at the beginning of 2023, when the generative AI boom was raw, nascent, and anxiety-inducing for many – specifically, on the company’s first Global Learning Day in April, an event that brought together employees from across the business – Thomson Reuters’ executive team was careful to leave no doubt about its upcoming priorities.

“The first goal was AI for customers, but the second goal adopted at that time was AI for colleagues. The two are equally critical in our mind, and we communicated that to employees on the first global learning day," Vuicic recalls.

At the event, President and CEO of Thomson Reuters Steve Hasker told employees the company was entering a new era, and that it would be critical for each employee to develop AI skills.

His message was followed up by eight hours of AI training for 6,000 employees and the launch of Open Arena, an internal playground to which each employee was given access—think less roundabouts and swings, and more large language model (LLM)-enabled generative AI tools (four, to be exact.) Proof, if it was needed, that Thomson Reuters is serious about its commitment to AI capability development.

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The company subsequently introduced a sprawling range of AI courses and development programmes. As of November 2024, more than 11,000 employees have taken Thomson Reuters’ AI Foundations course.

Together with Kirsty Roth, Chief Technology Officer at Thomson Reuters, Vuicic has also created an AI champions network made of 400 individuals – “early adopters and super users of the technology” – across all functions and seniorities.

Champions are expected to actively promote AI use each day and share best practices, use cases, tips, and tools with their teammates. The network was invited to do so on the second Global Learning Day later in 2023.

Thomson Reuters also selected ‘integrators,’ who demonstrate how the technology can be embedded into processes, and ‘reskillers,’ who work on improving the capabilities of employees in the roles where AI-enabled time savings are the most prominent.