We are living through a moment that will be defined not only by advanced technology and AI, but by the real-world infrastructure that makes it possible. And that infrastructure will be built the way critical infrastructure has always been built—by electricians, ironworkers, pipefitters, operating engineers, laborers, and the many other skilled professionals who turn plans into places and progress.

In a world that can feel increasingly virtual, there are millions of skilled trade professionals who remind us of a simple truth: what happens next still depends on uniquely human skills and what we can create, build, wire, weld, install, and maintain.

At Microsoft, we are honored to partner with North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) to invest in the people who build with us. Today we are announcing an expanded partnership to support a strong, skilled workforce pipeline and help workers across North America build the skills needed to succeed in an AI-powered economy.

We believe that the North American skilled trades workforce is one of the most talented workforce systems. This week, thousands of these talented workers from across North America gather in Washington, DC for their annual Legislative Conference, an annual convening that reflects both the enduring strength of the trades and the country’s need for what they do.

As part of our Community-First approach to AI infrastructure we committed to investing in the places where we build, in the people who build with us, and in the long-term capacity of local economies. AI is a tool we will use, and I believe it will help in ways we plan and manage work, but it will not replace the experience, judgment, and craft that define the trades. Instead, it can amplify those human skills: helping people work more safely, learning more quickly, and delivering higher-quality outcomes on increasingly complex job sites.

Bringing AI literacy to millions of trades professionals

Our collaboration with NABTU is built on a simple but powerful idea: the people building the future should also be equipped to thrive in it.

Over the past year, we have worked together to bring AI literacy directly into the apprenticeship and training infrastructure that NABTU operates across all 50 states and Canada. More than 1,500 instructors in hands-on training centers nationwide have already participated. That early momentum confirmed that when you meet workers where they are, with content designed for how they actually work, the true benefit of AI can be felt.

Today, we are expanding that effort significantly. Beginning now, no-cost AI literacy courses tailored specifically for the skilled trades are available on LinkedIn Learning, open to instructors, apprentices, and journey-level workers across North America. One course is designed for faculty and staff in apprenticeship training environments. The other is built for apprentices and journey-level professionals who are on job sites every day. Upon completion, participants earn an industry-recognized AI literacy credential—a tangible marker of readiness that travels with them throughout their careers.

We are also extending our partnership to TradesFutures, NABTU’s affiliated nonprofit that recruits, prepares, and connects people to union construction apprenticeship programs across 34 states. Through TradesFutures, we will expand awareness of careers in data center construction alongside AI literacy and link opportunity with infrastructure being built today with the skills that will define tomorrow. The training will be available to all TradesFutures Apprenticeship Readiness Programs, which operate in community-based workforce development settings, high schools, correctional facilities, and labor organizations.

Building on a foundation of partnership with labor unions

There is a question at the center of every conversation about AI and work: who gets to participate?

For too long, the answer has defaulted to those already inside the technology sector or sitting behind desks. But the reality of the AI economy is far broader than any single industry.

At Microsoft, we believe that AI literacy should be as foundational as safety training on a job site. It is not about turning electricians into software engineers. It is about ensuring that an apprentice learning to install electrical systems in a data center also understands the technology those systems support and can use AI tools to work more safely, more efficiently, and with greater confidence.

That philosophy aligns directly with how we think about jobs and skills at Microsoft Elevate—not as a one-time event but as an ongoing investment in human potential that increases the opportunity for all.

This work with NABTU is part of a broader pattern of partnership between Microsoft and the labor community. In December 2023, Microsoft and the AFL-CIO announced a first-of-its-kind partnership between a technology company and a national labor organization focused on AI. That agreement established a framework for sharing AI insights with labor leaders, incorporating worker perspectives into technology development, and shaping public policy that supports frontline workers.

Since then, through our Microsoft Elevate initiative, we have continued to deepen our engagement with workforce organizations, educators, and community institutions. From partnerships with the American Federation of Teachers on the National Academy for AI Instruction to the National Education Association and National Association of Workforce Boards, our work with community colleges across the country, the thread that connects all of this work is a commitment to meeting people where they are—and making sure they have the skills and credentials to move forward.

The road ahead

Technology only fulfills its promise when it lifts people up, and the opportunity here is enormous. For this sector, for every industry that depends on it, for organizations of every size, and for individual workers and entrepreneurs. But it will only be realized if AI is designed and deployed around the realities of the work. In the trades, that means tools that are practical, trusted, and tailored so that AI can help more people stay in the field doing what they love, while opening doors to new kinds of growth.

Think about what that can mean for a contractor who’s running a small shop after a full day on the job: AI that helps draft and send invoices faster, reconcile receipts, and keep paperwork from piling up late at night. Or AI that can sift through public records—permits, zoning updates, capital plans, and procurement notices—to spot building trends in a community and flag where demand is headed next. Or tools that help identify bid opportunities and assemble first-draft scopes and materials lists based on prior jobs. On the job site itself, we believe AI can support safer work, such as summarizing daily plans, translating instructions, and surfacing the right checklist or standard, so people can focus on the work that requires human judgment.

There remain big questions about the impact of AI, and while we do not yet have all the answers, we do know that the future will not be built by technology alone. It will be built by the people who show up every day with skill and purpose to construct the world we all want to live in. If we continue to work together, AI can help expand opportunities: stronger businesses, safer job sites, better projects, and more people able to earn a great living in the communities they call home.

The post Putting AI to work with the building trades appeared first on Microsoft On the Issues.

As we welcome more than 1,500 nonprofit leaders from around the world to Microsoft’s Global Nonprofit Leaders Summit, we are reminded of the extraordinary work nonprofit organizations do every day to strengthen communities and expand opportunity. Today’s gathering comes at a pivotal moment, as nonprofits confront a new set of questions: How can AI help them serve their communities more effectively? And how do they build the skills and capacity to lead this change from within?

Major technological transitions rarely unfold evenly. As AI diffuses across economies and sectors, it creates new opportunities, but it also introduces significant disruption for workers, families, and communities. Nonprofits are uniquely positioned to drive meaningful change in today’s world. They are the organizations people turn to first to support people as they develop new skills, find new pathways to employment, and stay connected to the systems that sustain them.

To help them maximize their impact with greater scale and efficiency, today we are announcing Microsoft Elevate for Changemakers, a new initiative that provides nonprofit leaders with essential AI credentials, access to a strong peer community, and role-based capacity-building resources. This program is designed to empower those at the forefront of social challenges to confidently lead AI adoption in ways that reflect their missions and the communities they serve.

This new program is part of our broader Microsoft Elevate commitment to ensure people can thrive in the AI economy and reflects Microsoft’s 50-year legacy of supporting nonprofits. As an organization, we are proud to partner with nearly one million nonprofits and education systems globally, and in the next year alone we will deliver more than $5 billion in discounts, donations, and grants to help nonprofit organizations address community needs.

Backed by Microsoft’s pledge to ensure everyone has opportunity in the AI era, Microsoft Elevate for Changemakers helps ensure that those working closest to community challenges remain at the leading edge of AI-powered solutions.

The new Microsoft Elevate for Changemakers program includes: 

• AI for Nonprofits credential: The AI for Nonprofits credential is a professional certificate, developed with LinkedIn and NetHope, that gives participants a clear, structured learning path built around the real work happening across the nonprofit sector. Earners receive a LinkedIn professional certificate, providing formal recognition of their growing expertise and their commitment to responsible AI use in their organizations.
• Live and on-demand AI training to build capacity: Practical skills training built around real nonprofit work, not generic AI content repackaged for the sector. From Copilot fundamentals to change management to responsible AI governance, every module is designed to simplify workflows for nonprofits and help them do more with ease.
• A Changemaker Fellowship, a global program for nonprofit professionals at organizations with actionable AI projects ready to advance their missions. This fellowship provides the essential resources, investment, and expert guidance needed to turn AI ambition into lasting impact. Fellows will join a worldwide cohort, create and implement responsible AI adoption plans, develop critical technical and change management skills, and connect with a trusted network of nonprofit AI leaders—all with support from Microsoft and launch partners, including EY and Caribou. The Changemaker Fellowship is now open to nonprofits of all backgrounds.

Those ready to make a difference with AI can register their interest today at Aka.ms/MicrosoftElevateforChangemakers.

Transforming possibilities by empowering nonprofits

At its best, AI should expand human agency rather than replace it. The real opportunity is to give people more capacity to solve problems, build new ideas, and strengthen the communities around them.

Across the nonprofit sector, this is already taking shape in practical ways:

• Enriching staff time. Much of a typical nonprofit employee week does not directly contribute to the mission work. In fact, research finds that nearly half of nonprofit organizations still use manual data entry and spreadsheets for compliance documentation, meeting summaries, case notes, and other operations. AI reduces that burden in ways that are already real and measurable, giving people more of their week back for the work they came to do. ARCare, a healthcare provider in underserved communities across Arkansas, Kentucky, and Mississippi, is already seeing the benefits of its use of AI technology. With AI handling administrative tasks, staff spend less time on data collection and more time on patient care, and they estimate they have eliminated 6–8 hours a day of manual tasks.
• Delivering more impactful programs. AI gives nonprofits the ability to scale what works without losing what makes it work. Opportunity International is using AI to scale impact through a local language chatbot to provide farmers with instant agricultural guidance, overcoming literacy barriers and dramatically expanding reach. By making critical knowledge accessible, AI frees frontline teams to focus on relationships, mentoring, and the long-term change that traditional programs alone can’t achieve.

• Engaging supporters and funders more effectively. Raising funds, obtaining grants, and building donor relationships are often the most important strategic priorities—and challenges—for nonprofits that are facing growing demand for services at a time of economic uncertainty. AI doesn’t replace donor relationships. It gives the people managing those relationships more time and capacity to focus on what builds them. Head Start Homes found that as AI increased their organizational bandwidth, they could scale programs and attract new funding.

• Transforming operations. AI gives nonprofits the ability to innovate and optimize how they work, bringing greater security, sharper data, and more informed decision-making to every part of the organization. The result is less time spent managing complexity and more capacity directed toward results. The social housing organization, de Alliantie, is a good example. Using AI has allowed de Alliantie to boost efficiency while keeping a human-centered approach to housing support at the center of everything they do. With more than 3,000 calls coming in each week for housing support, using an AI chatbot allowed call center staff to help more people, because the goal was never efficiency for its own sake. It was to make sure the human benefit always comes first.

These real stories of AI empowering mission-driven organizations are made possible by dedicated individuals within nonprofits who are stepping forward to lead transformative change, often without formal recognition or an official mandate. It is their willingness to embrace new technology, learn new skills, and champion responsible AI adoption that is propelling the sector forward.

The work ahead

The millions of global changemakers, volunteers, and leaders across the nonprofit sector are redefining what is possible, ensuring that AI serves as a tool to amplify human capacity and purpose, rather than replace it. Their commitment and leadership are the driving force behind a future where nonprofits harness AI to deliver greater impact, deepen relationships, and strengthen communities.

The path forward will be shaped by the strength and leadership of the nonprofit sector. Every day, these organizations demonstrate what it means to stay close to communities, respond in moments of change, and help people navigate uncertainty with trust and consistency.

That is what makes this moment different. As AI becomes more widely adopted, the organizations best positioned to ensure its benefits are broadly shared are the ones already doing this work.

At Microsoft, we are building on a tradition of support for this sector that began five decades ago with our founder and continues today. Ours is a long-term commitment. Not just as a technology partner, but as part of a broader effort to help ensure the benefits of AI reach the communities nonprofits serve. We will continue investing in the capacity, tools, and partnerships that support this work and look forward to building what comes next together.

The post Empowering the nonprofit sector to meet tomorrow’s challenges  appeared first on Microsoft On the Issues.