Free AI training offered to 10m workers – why SMEs should pay attention

The government is backing an expansion of Skills England’s free AI training, a series of short, practical courses designed to help workers—including at least two million SME employees—to use AI effectively at work by 2030.

Despite the hype around AI, only a minority of SMEs currently actually use it, often due to a lack of AI skills, confidence, or time. AI adoption across the UK remains uneven, and small businesses might be missing out on the benefits it can offer.

This expansion aims to address this gap. Here’s what SMEs need to know about the programme, and how they can get involved.

What’s being offered — and who it’s for

Under the expanded programme, every adult in the UK is eligible to take free, online AI foundations training through the revamped AI Skills Hub. The goal is to reach 10 million workers by the end of 2030, which has the potential to transform the UK workforce’s relationship to AI and automation. 

Government research shows that the main barrier to the adoption of AI is the widespread ethical concerns that come with it. But the second-biggest barrier is a huge AI skills gap. The free courses are intended to address this gap so that small businesses can access the time and money-saving benefits of automation. 

In as little as 20 minutes, the courses guide users on drafting text, creating content, and automating routine admin tasks, which can offer tangible help in the workplace. Skills England has benchmarked the courses against its AI foundation standards, and completing the courses earns businesses a government-backed digital badge to mark the achievement.

The programme has already delivered over one million courses since last year, and is now being scaled with the support of major employers, public sector bodies, and business groups — including the NHS, Federation of Small Businesses, and British Chambers of Commerce. 

Why this matters for small businesses

Ethical concerns aside, AI adoption is also a question of access.

Research cited alongside the government’s announcement shows that small firms, particularly microbusinesses, are 45% less likely to adopt AI than larger companies, largely due to limited in-house expertise. The programme is intended to grant everybody who wants it the opportunity to gain the necessary skills and knowledge to make the most of AI.

The training is designed to help businesses do more with less, unlocking productivity gains by freeing staff from repetitive tasks so that they can focus on more strategic, high-value work.

FSB Policy Chair Tina McKenzie said: “Small businesses want to make the most of AI, but just under half (46%) say they don’t yet have the skills or knowledge to use it well.” 

“This ambitious partnership will help them – and their workforce – make the most of the new technology.”

What founders and employers should take from this

The programme marks a shift in approach: treating AI skills as basic workplace infrastructure rather than a specialist capability reserved for large firms and tech teams. As PwC UK’s CTO Umang Paw put it: “AI isn’t coming – it’s here, and it’s rewriting the rules of work.”

For small business owners, this creates a rare, low-risk opportunity to build baseline AI literacy across your teams at no cost. As the technology continues to evolve at breakneck speed, understanding how to use AI safely, ethically, and effectively is likely to become a competitive necessity rather than a nice-to-have. 

Initiatives such as this are crucial to help smaller firms stay in step with larger competitors and reduce the risk of being left behind as AI becomes embedded in everyday work, so it’s important to make the most of it.