The Prime Minister's talk at London Tech Week 2025: What does this mean for the tech job market?

As experts in getting people into tech careers, we’ve extracted some of the salient points from the talk to try and gauge what this could mean for people in the UK that want to move or pivot into a tech career.

What were Keir Starmer’s key points at London Tech Week?

1. Shifting the AI narrative: From threat to tool

Starmer’s central message was clear: AI isn’t something to be feared, it’s a tool to make our lives more meaningful. 

He urged the UK to “push past” the panic and instead embrace AI’s power to remove the drudgery from work, freeing time to focus on creativity, care, and connection.

Citing examples in social work, education, and healthcare, he spoke about how time spent on form-filling and bureaucracy is reduced; this provides us with a real-world example of how AI already helps us reconnect with our humanity.

This also serves as a useful reminder of why digital literacy isn’t ‘optional’, but essential to unlocking the real value of tech.

2. Investing £1 billion in people, not just machines

Another top line of the speech was the Government's £1 billion AI infrastructure plan and a significant investment in ‘human capital’ owing to the new TechFirst programme as follows:

• 1 million students in secondary school are to be given an unprecedented chance to learn and develop their skills in tech and AI
• £187 million investment in the national skills programme to bring digital skills and AI learning into classrooms and communities
• 7.5 million UK workers to gain essential AI skills by 2030 through industry partnership as major tech players including NVIDIA, Google and Microsoft back the Government’s skills drive.

3. Real world examples of how AI can support several industries

Examples of how AI helps us in ‘never seen before’ ways were presented and leveraged to encourage learners of all ages to be ready to participate, not just observe. Examples included:

• AI in hospitals speeding up stroke diagnoses
• Planning departments using Google Gemini to digitise handwritten documents
• Schools embedding digital skills into the curriculum early

What does the UK’s tech action plan mean for people looking to get into tech?

The Prime Minister’s talk at the Tech Week conference demonstrates an acknowledgement from the government that investment in tech education and infrastructure is vital to the future and prosperity of the nation.

As providers of tech education and training, what we at Learning People hope to see from this investment is:

• A significant growth in demand for skilled tech workers – for both public services and private businesses who need support with AI infrastructure and operations
• More work opportunities in cybersecurity owing to the growing need for ethical governance of AI
• More vocational routes and training for tech aimed at career-changers or people looking to upskill and future-proof their skillset
• Better collaborations between tech training providers (such as ourselves) and tech companies needing skilled tech workers

 

A comment from our Director of Education

"Sir Keir Starmer’s speech at London Tech Week on 9 June 2025 represents a pivotal moment for learners and educators in AI. By pledging £1 billion to expand the nation's AI compute capacity twentyfold and launching the TechFirst initiative backed by £187 million to introduce AI skills in schools, alongside a partnership to train 7.5 million workers by 2030, the Prime Minister has sent a clear signal: the UK is committed to building and upskilling a future-ready AI workforce. 

"The rapid rollout of infrastructure and high-quality training programs means that both newcomers and career switchers can now access world-class learning pathways. Learning People is ideally positioned to support this journey. Our courses complement the government's initiatives by offering practical, skills-first training in data science, cyber, cloud, and AI, equipping learners to seize roles across healthcare, public services, fintech, and beyond."

 

So, what should current or aspiring tech professionals do to stay ahead of the curve and capitalise on this surge in government investment? 

Our key advice would be to take action now:

• Start researching: look at job descriptions, salaries, and job market trends for tech roles you’re interested in; hone in on the kind of opportunities you’re looking for
• Talk to career advisors, but specifically ones who specialise in the tech sector and understand how it’s going to grow and change over the coming years
• Start learning and upskilling as soon as you can – there are plenty of online, flexible, and self-paced vocational tech training options you can start while still working your current job, including many entry-level or “beginner” options (there are probably fewer barriers to entry than you might expect) 

To help you get started, you can browse our tech career pathway pages to learn more about what different careers in this sector – such as in cybersecurity, code, data, and cloud – would look like. 

 

What’s next for Learning People and AI?

We’ve said it for some time now: AI isn’t just an add-on tool for tech professionals. It’s already reshaping careers in all sectors, from care workers to creatives. For Learning People, this means we need to continue building curriculums that are agile, inclusive, and forward thinking in a way that helps our students truly future-proof their careers. Our commitment to this mission has recently been strongly highlighted by our new partnership with the UK Cyber Security Council.

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If you’d like to understand more about the learning and career opportunities in AI we can offer, get in touch with one of our career consultants today.