How to use the Growth and Skills Levy to build AI skills

Every week I speak to leaders who are sitting on two things at once: unspent levy funding and a growing AI skills gap. 

The obvious question is why the two don’t meet. 

For a long time, the honest answer was that the system made it hard. Programmes were too broad, too slow or built for cohorts far bigger than the need. That is starting to change. The Growth and Skills Levy gives employers more freedom over how they fund training. But it also gives them less time to use it. 

So the question has shifted. It’s no longer “can we use our levy for this?” It’s “what do we need our people to be able to do, and how quickly can we get there?” 

More flexible, but the clock is ticking

The Growth and Skills Levy replaced the Apprenticeship Levy in 2026. Funding can now go towards apprenticeships, foundation apprenticeships and apprenticeship units: shorter, targeted programmes that build specific skills without committing someone to a full apprenticeship. 

Apprenticeship units arrived in April. Then, on 1 August, the rules tightened: 

The Government’s 10 per cent top-up on levy funds ended. 

New funds entering your account now expire after 12 months, not 24. 

Once your levy runs out, your contribution to new apprenticeship starts rises from 5 per cent to 25 per cent. 

Put simply, the levy is more useful than it has ever been. It is also less forgiving of indecision. 

Why levy funding hasn’t kept pace with AI

AI isn’t just creating new roles. It’s changing the ones people already do. 

A business might need five people in data to build one specialist capability, its leaders to understand another, and wider teams to use AI tools confidently in their day-to-day work. None of that fits neatly into a programme designed for 50 or 100 people doing the same thing. 

That frustration came through clearly in La Fosse’s AI Workforce Council discussions. Leaders want to use their levy well. Too often, the training on offer is too generic to close the gaps that matter. 

There are practical barriers too. Someone in the business needs time to support and supervise every learner. And AI moves faster than most formal training can be designed. 

The result? Levy funding gets spent because it’s there, not because it’s building anything the business actually needs. 

Reskill before you replace

This is the part I feel most strongly about. 

When roles change, the instinct can be to look outside for new skills. But the people who already understand your business, your clients and your culture are often your best bet. Reskilling them keeps that knowledge in the building and gives your people a future rather than an exit. 

Junior and mid-level roles aren’t disappearing. They’re changing. The organisations that do well will be the ones that train their people to use AI tools, so they aren’t displaced by them. 

The levy is one of the most practical ways to fund that. 

Start with the capability, not the funding pot

The best levy strategies I see all start in the same place. Not with the funding, but with the work. 

Map the work that’s changing. Which roles will AI reshape in the next 12 to 24 months, and how? 

Name the capability gap. Be specific. “AI skills” is too broad. “Analysts who can build and test automated reporting” is something you can train for. 

Match the right route. A full apprenticeship for one person, a shorter unit for another, a wider programme for a whole team. 

Act now. With new funds expiring in 12 months, waiting for the perfect plan is the most expensive option. 

Success isn’t how much of your levy you spend. It’s whether your people can do things they couldn’t do before. 

What this looks like in practice

This is exactly why we built our AI-enhanced apprenticeships. 

Each programme combines an established apprenticeship pathway with role-specific AI skills, across leadership and management, business and operations, data and information, and digital and technology. Your people gain a recognised qualification and the practical AI capability their role now demands. 

Many of our learners are already doing the job. They aren’t starting from scratch. They’re building on what they know, applying it at work from week one and bringing new skills straight back into the team. 

That’s what levy funding should do: build capability your business can use, not tick a box. 

Explore our AI-enhanced apprenticeships

The bigger picture

The Growth and Skills Levy won’t close the AI skills gap on its own. But it gives employers a real lever to pull as they rethink how work gets done and where their skills will come from. 

Beyond Headcount brings together ten senior AI, data, technology and transformation leaders to set out a practical blueprint for workforce planning in the AI era. If you’re working out what your teams need next, it’s a good place to start.