Discover how ITG’s AI Apprenticeships are building real-world AI skills and embedding Operational AI across the business.
At ITG, we’re not interested in just talking about AI. We’re focused on making it work — for ourselves, and more importantly for our clients. That means embedding it into how we operate every day, across every team.
Our AI Apprenticeships represent a new and integral part of that mission: building real, practical AI capability from within our business and enabling our people to become hands-on AI operators.
Moving beyond the AI conversation
AI is everywhere right now. But for many organizations, it remains stuck in presentations, pilots, and potential.
Our focus is different. We’re investing in Operational AI — using AI to enhance workflows, streamline processes, and improve outcomes in the work we deliver every day.
Rather than centralizing knowledge or relying solely on external hires, we’re unlocking the talent that already exists across ITG. That comes from a firm belief that the people closest to the work — our incredible ITGers — are the ones best placed to transform it.
What our AI Apprenticeships look like
Our AI Champions program is a structured apprenticeship designed to build AI capabilities across ITG. Delivered in partnership with Apprentify — an Ofsted Outstanding provider — it includes:
- Level 3 AI Activator (13 months) — building foundational, practical AI skills
- Level 4 AI Practitioner (16 months) — designed for more process-heavy and automation-focused roles
Funded through the apprenticeship levy, the program is scalable by design, allowing us to invest in capability without additional cost to the business.
Participants develop skills in:
- AI literacy and real-world application
- Prompt engineering
- Productivity tools and workflow optimization
- Identifying high-impact use cases
- Responsible AI and governance
And because the AI landscape moves fast, the content evolves monthly to ensure we stay relevant, current, and focused on what drives impact.
Building operators, not theorists
The guiding principle of our approach is simple: application over theory.
Our apprentices dedicate around six to seven hours per week to the program, but crucially, most of that time is embedded within their day-to-day roles.
This means AI isn’t something learned in isolation. It’s applied in real time against real challenges.
Each participant delivers a capstone project at the end of the program, focused on creating measurable improvements within their area.
Whether that’s…
- Streamlining operational workflows
- Enhancing client delivery
- Improving production efficiency
- Unlocking new commercial insights
…the outcome is the same: tangible, measurable value.
Scaling AI across ITG
We’ve seen significant demand for the program, with more than 80 nominations from across the business for an initial intake of around 40 places.
Those selected represent a deliberately cross-functional mix — from client services and operations to finance, commercial, creative, and production teams.
This is intentional. AI can’t sit in silos. To be truly transformative, it needs to be embedded everywhere.
Once qualified, our AI Champions become multipliers, leading tailored AI sessions within their teams and client accounts, sharing practical applications, and enabling others to adopt AI in ways that are directly relevant to their work.
That’s how we scale. Not through a single team, but through a network of capability distributed across ITG in order to raise comprehension and skills in every area of our business.
Why Operational AI matters to us
Operational AI is about evolving how we work as much as driving efficiency.
By embedding AI into the fabric of our organization, we’re able to:
- Identify opportunities faster
- Improve productivity across functions
- Enhance the quality and consistency of our output
- Deliver better outcomes for our clients
More importantly, we’re building a business that can continually adapt. AI isn’t static, and neither are we.
A smarter, more capable future
Our AI Apprenticeships represent a strategic investment in our future as a business, and the futures of our ITGers as individuals.
By building practical capability, fostering cross-functional adoption, and focusing on measurable outcomes, we’re creating something far more powerful than AI awareness. We’re building a workforce of AI operators.
People who don’t just understand AI, but use it. Shape it. Scale it.
And that’s what will define the next phase of ITG’s growth. Exciting times lie ahead!
