The Financial Times has a long-standing reputation for embracing digital transformation - including the arrival of generative AI.
Recognising the opportunities and risks AI presented, the focus was to proceed in a responsible and ethical way; staying true to the FT’s values and purpose. Having created our AI policy and principles, we used these to define what AI fluency meant to us and how we could support our 3,000+ employees in reaching this standard.
Through strategic investments, hands-on learning, and a culture of experimentation, we are empowering our employees to responsibly use AI to futureproof their careers, improve their productivity, and free up time for more higher-value tasks.
AI at the FT: A strategic imperative
In early 2024, FT CEO John Ridding announced that a new company-wide goal would be to enable and equip all employees to become AI literate. Building on the guiding principles and AI governance introduced in 2023, we launched a company wide AI transformation programme aimed at harnessing the power of AI in a responsible way. This included giving all employees access to AI tools such as Google’s Gemini and ChatGPT Enterprise, enabling them to integrate AI into their daily workflows.
One of the most exciting aspects of this journey has been the flourishing culture of peer learning and skills sharing to support AI innovation.
Bridging the AI skills gap
We recognise that embracing AI requires more than just providing access to tools. It demands an investment in skills, confidence-building and the evolution of our culture.
An employee survey revealed that the primary barrier to adoption was lack of time. To address this, we launched our first-ever FT Global AI Immersion Week in June 2024. This week-long internal event series opened with a welcome message from the CEO and featured a senior leadership panel on how AI might support our organisational goals, hands-on workshops, and peer-led showcase demos. This initiative was a game-changer, leading to widespread engagement and adoption.
To complement this, we also shared AI tips via our weekly all-staff newsletter, an AI fluency quiz, and an AI skills framework to guide employees at different levels of expertise. Our commitment to responsible AI use was reinforced through algorithmic equity workshops, which educated leaders on how to mitigate bias in AI-driven decision-making, and our responsible and ethical AI framework.
To sustain and scale these efforts, we created a new role within our Learning team: the AI Fluency Lead. This position is dedicated to driving AI adoption, education, and upskilling across the FT, ensuring AI becomes an integral part of our workflows. Matthew Partovi, our AI Fluency Lead, describes his work as “a reflection of our commitment to embracing innovation, investing in growth, and evolving our culture for the future”.
Overcoming challenges and looking ahead
As established in a letter from the FT editor in May 2023, our stance is to not allow AI to compromise the integrity of our journalism, which is reported, written and created by our journalists and editors. As such, it has been essential to distinguish between commercial and editorial uses of AI and provide tailored messaging and training resources for colleagues appropriate for their roles.
Employees expressed the need for clearer communication and dedicated AI ownership to drive initiatives forward. To address this, we formed the AI transformation programme and a cross-company AI taskforce that has the full sponsorship of our leadership. The AI taskforce meets regularly to share learnings, collaborate on AI projects and report back to their departments.
The results speak for themselves: 81% of employees now have access to ChatGPT, with 75% using it actively within the last 30 days. The response to AI Immersion Week was overwhelmingly positive, with 94% of surveyed attendees planning to apply their new skills and 98% of respondents to our AI fluency quiz achieving "AI Literate" status or higher by the end of the year.
The FT advantage: future-ready talent
At the FT, we are taking a proactive approach to AI integration, prioritising employee learning, encouraging collaboration, and embedding AI thoughtfully into our workflows. Our goal is to ensure that AI serves as an enabler, supporting our teams while we maintain the people-first, high standards that define working at the FT.
If you’re looking for an employer that values innovation, invests in its people, and embraces the future with confidence, the FT could be the place for you. We are more than just a media company; we are a workplace where talent and technology come together to create quality meaningful journalism and drive meaningful change.