Skills are more than a foundation for learning and development. They can provide a shared language that connects business priorities, workforce capabilities, talent decisions, and changing market demands. But where do you start — and how do you make skills data useful when your organization has limited resources, fragmented information, or an outdated framework?

In this practical session, you'll learn how to build the business case for a skills-based approach and get started with a real business challenge. We'll explore how to identify critical and emerging skills, use AI to extract and organize skills information from existing sources, and validate capabilities with employees, managers, and evidence from real work.

Using a repeatable 4D framework—Define, Detect, Decide, Deploy—you'll discover how to turn skills insights into actionable decisions about development, hiring, internal mobility, and work redesign.
You'll leave with a practical starting blueprint, AI-assisted techniques you can adapt, and a simple way to communicate the business value of skills.

In this session, you will learn to:

• Position skills as a shared language that connects business strategy, workforce planning, and talent decisions.
• Apply the 4D framework to launch or refresh a practical, business-led skills initiative.
• Use AI and existing organizational data to identify, organize, and validate skills, then translate gaps into actionable talent decisions.