2 – Turning talent into applicable skills
Not long ago, workers felt confident that their skillsets would remain relevant for the foreseeable future. But in light of the rapid advances in AI and other technologies, workforce skills may need to be updated as often as every two years.
In the current business environment, HR leaders are focuing on upskilling at scale. French insurer AXA has set up a number of academies to support different approaches to learning and help employees develop both soft and hard skills. Its Tech, Data, and AI Academy, for example, includes basic training for all employees, as well as leader-specific and function-specific courses to support strategy and day-to-day operations. “Our goal is to democratize learning, to make each employee the owner of his or her training,” explains Sandrine Girszyn, CHRO at AXA headquarters.
As required skillsets change, HR leaders are seeking to initiate a parallel adjustment in the way their organizations think about work, focusing less on traditional roles and more on the skills needed to complete specific tasks.
“Since the Second Industrial Revolution, the whole construct of work has been driven by the idea of a job. Jobs are the currency of work,” explains Tanuj Kapilashrami, Chief Strategy and Talent Officer at Standard Chartered. “Today, that is a problem, because technology and broader market shifts are rapidly disrupting established jobs. It’s leaving a lot of value on the table in terms of lost productivity, because people are typecast based on their job, with no recognition of their underlying skills.”
For Standard Chartered, the solution was to establish the Talent Marketplace. Rather than focusing on job descriptions, the platform enables employees to create profiles that showcase their skills. Managers across the organization can post opportunities that require skills not available within their existing teams. AI scans each new post and plays matchmaker.
The results speak for themselves. As of July 2025, over 60% of Standard Chartered employees were using the Talent Marketplace platform. The initiative has helped the bank save over $55m in hiring costs and fees since 2023.