Pearson and Microsoft announce multiyear partnership on AI skills and learning

Pearson, the London-listed learning company, and Microsoft announced a multiyear partnership on January 14, 2025 focused on AI-related skills and learning. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Under the agreement, Microsoft's Azure cloud and AI infrastructure will support Pearson's content and services, and the two companies plan to develop new AI credentials and certifications alongside copilots, agents and other AI tools aimed at building skills and identifying skill gaps. Pearson will roll out Microsoft 365 Copilot across its own workforce. The companies also extended through 2029 their arrangement covering Microsoft certifications delivered through Pearson VUE. English language learning is named as one target for the new AI tools, and the announcement also pointed to Pearson's Faethm capability and Credly badging, which organizations use with Pearson VUE to diagnose, assess and certify skills.

The companies framed the partnership as a response to the difficulty organizations face in preparing staff for AI. Figures cited in the announcement include a finding that 66% of business leaders would not hire someone without AI skills, and an estimate that generative AI could save US workers 78 million hours a week on routine tasks. Microsoft said that it and its partners trained and certified more than 23 million people in digital skills in 2024.