IBM SkillsBuild and the National Applied AI Consortium team up to train community college faculty on AI

The free program offers a structured, self-paced AI learning pathway for educators across all disciplines, building on IBM's goal to skill two million learners in AI by the end of 2026.

IBM and the National Applied AI Consortium have launched a free AI learning pathway for community college faculty and staff

IBM and the National Applied AI Consortium (NAAIC) have launched a collaboration to deliver a customized AI learning plan for faculty and staff at community colleges across the United States.

The initiative uses IBM's free SkillsBuild platform, which offers more than 1,000 courses covering AI, cloud, cybersecurity, and data science, and pairs it with a structured pathway designed specifically for educators.

The collaboration builds on an existing partnership between IBM SkillsBuild and Miami Dade College, where the platform was first introduced to students and adult learners. NAAIC, which was founded by Miami Dade College's Antonio Delgado Fornaguera, Vice President of Innovation and Tech Partnerships, is now extending that work to community college faculty and staff nationwide.

Delgado Fornaguera, wrote on LinkedIn that the new collaboration will offer faculty and staff "a customized AI Learning Plan" through which they can "build confidence with AI from foundational understanding through intermediate and advanced concepts and hands-on labs to evaluate, apply, and model responsible AI use."

A structured pathway from AI literacy to applied fluency

The learning plan is a self-paced pathway that takes educators from foundational AI literacy through to advanced, applied concepts. It includes hands-on labs designed to build practical fluency, with the goal of enabling faculty to evaluate, apply, and integrate responsible AI use across teaching, advising, and professional practice.

Beyond the core coursework, IBM SkillsBuild provides industry-aligned credentials, guided learning experiences, and ready-to-use toolkits that can be embedded into existing programs or institutional initiatives. Additional resources include webinars and cohort-based learning experiences. Faculty also get access to open-source AI models, data science tools, and analytical resources through IBM Technology, though an academic institution email address is required.

Lydia Logan, Vice President of Global Education and Workforce Development at IBM, says: "Building AI readiness starts with literacy, but it has to lead to fluency. Through this collaboration with NAAIC, our goal is to help educators build the confidence to apply AI responsibly in ways that strengthen how they educate and support students."

Wider context and IBM's 30 million target

The partnership sits within IBM's broader commitment to skill 30 million people globally by 2030, including two million learners in AI by the end of 2026. The SkillsBuild platform is free to participants, available in multiple languages and formats, and designed to connect learning directly to career pathways.

Antonio Delgado Fornaguera, Founder of NAAIC, says: "At NAAIC, our focus is on ensuring that AI education is not only innovative, but accessible and workforce-aligned. Working with IBM allows us to support educators in building practical skills that directly benefit their students and local economies."

An information session with IBM is scheduled for May 19 at 12:00 PM EST for institutions interested in the program. The collaboration positions community colleges as a key delivery mechanism for applied AI education at a time when four-year institutions and private sector bootcamps have dominated much of the AI upskilling conversation.