Lamont highlights Connecticut’s AI training push, with employers at its center

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont put employer-linked AI training at the center of an October 28 press conference in East Hartford. Joined by university, business and state leaders, he highlighted efforts to prepare students and workers for changing jobs, arguing that Connecticut’s opportunity lies in applying AI across professions rather than leading AI research.

The event at Goodwin University showcased an existing set of programs, including partnerships between colleges and businesses, specialized AI courses and a free online academy. Its main focus was the Tech Talent Accelerator, a four-year-old workforce program. The state announced its more AI-oriented third version in February, making Wednesday’s presentation a public case for that approach rather than the program’s debut.

Teaching AI inside a profession

Kelli-Marie Vallieres, Connecticut’s chief workforce officer, described an employer-first strategy: work with businesses to identify needed skills and connect students with companies well before graduation. The accelerator provides the structure for those higher-education partnerships. The Office of Workforce Strategy is supporting several pilots that place AI instruction within a particular field, rather than treating it only as a separate subject:

• Connecticut College: an AI accounting and entrepreneurship course, linking the technology with those areas of business study.
• University of New Haven: an AI for Cybersecurity program, placing AI instruction within a specific technical discipline.
• Quinnipiac University: an online course focused on AI in healthcare business innovation, combining a sector-specific subject with remote learning.

The employer connection was illustrated by Nicholas Schilling, now a software engineer at IT and business consulting firm CGI. He entered the University of St. Joseph without a clear career direction, then met CGI at an event. He studied computer and data science, completed an internship with the company and joined it full-time after graduation. He now mentors students.

A broader route beyond college partnerships

Alongside the employer-linked courses, Connecticut has a broader learning route. Its free online AI Academy offers certificate programs in AI literacy and AI fluency. The academy is expected to extend its offerings to teens, teachers and small businesses. That planned expansion reaches beyond the college-to-employer pathway emphasized by the accelerator, while retaining the focus on learning to use AI.

Other parts of the state’s workforce effort also predate the event. Over the summer, Connecticut announced a partnership with RAISE US, a nonpartisan organization offering retraining and additional skills to workers displaced by AI. The collaboration is intended to pilot training for interacting with AI, with lessons from Connecticut and other participating states helping inform a national workforce strategy.

In August, the Department of Economic and Community Development announced a $20 million investment in an applied AI workforce center in Hartford to help train workers in new skills and technologies. Separately, the state’s Career Pathways Commission is developing a plan for work-based learning and career exposure, with pathways intended to begin in kindergarten and continue through adulthood.