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This program underscores the council's commitment to continuous learning and development, preparing its workforce for an increasingly digital future. The initiative is part of the council’s 2024-2026 Technology & Digital Strategy to lead the way in harnessing data and technology to drive its services.

The apprenticeships are delivered by tech company Multiverse and include training in Data and Insights for Business Decisions and Business Transformation.

Dionne Lowndes, Chief Digital & Technology Officer at Southwark Council, said: “As part of our Digital Journey, we are focussed on giving our workforce the skills they need to deliver the ambitions of our newly launched Technology and Digital strategy. Enabling our workforce is key to giving the council the opportunity to use emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, automation and using Data as a key enabler.

Working with Multiverse has allowed us to make this an organisational wide opportunity. We have over 100 Digital Champions in our network who work across the organisation to support others with training and support on new systems. This has given the opportunity for them to become specialists and potentially move into a career within the technology Industry.”

Launched in March, the first cohort of more than 40 have already enrolled on professional apprenticeships, with 80 more set to start over the next 2 months, and continued launches throughout the rest of the year.

The training will be delivered by tech company Multiverse, which has created more than 15,000 apprenticeships in the UK and US. Multiverse apprentices receive access to on-demand coaching, personalised learning, and an active community where they can learn from peers and grow their network.

Alex Varel, CRO at Multiverse, said: “ A councils’ ability to deliver the best services for residents is contingent on having high quality skills in their teams. Southwark Council has recognised this - and through their investment in people they will be able to better serve the people of Southwark in a more data-driven way.”

The demand for highly skilled software engineers is skyrocketing. There are over 113,000 software engineering professionals in the UK, who need to keep their knowledge up-to-date with the latest emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and cybersecurity.

Companies are crying out for these advanced skillsets, that can help them reap the benefits of new technologies – and there’s an opportunity for individuals who can learn them to access these jobs.

Our original software engineering apprenticeship has helped those at the start of their career to learn the foundational skills to start coding and access well-paid careers at companies like Vodafone and Sky.

Now, we’re bridging the gap between entry-level coding and advanced skills – and creating a route to the best jobs with our latest degree-level programme.

Advanced Software Engineering at Multiverse

Delivered over 2 years, the Advanced Software Engineering programme heightens the knowledge of software engineering and broadens skill sets. Apprentices learn how to drive complex advanced projects in the field of software engineering including cyber security, machine learning and working with the cloud.

The programme includes live coaching, asynchronous learning, and on-the-job learning. Upon completion, apprentices will gain a Multiverse Degree: a Bachelor of Science Degree (Honors) in Digital and Technology Solutions (Software Engineer).

The first cohort will launch later this year.

Unlocking high-quality careers and business transformation

For individuals, this programme is the key to unlock the best-paid, most prestigious software engineering jobs at companies across industries and across the country. UK workers with advanced digital skills (such as cloud architecture, software development and machine learning) earn 30% more than those with no digital skills.

For companies, upskilling software engineering teams will be key to harnessing the technical innovations that will drive forward their ambitions. Companies and business leaders know that they need to keep investing in technology and improving their products, services, and internal operations in order to remain competitive. But in many cases, too few of the existing employees have the necessary skills required to take advantage of the opportunities presented by AI and other emerging technologies.

But hiring is expensive, and slow. Recruiting a software engineer takes 42 days, and upskilling existing employees is estimated to save businesses as much as £36,000 per employee compared to hiring from outside. Our new programme takes existing talent within an organisation and upskills them to fill in-demand mid-senior level roles.

Our Advanced Software Engineering programme will unlock potential. It will enable individuals to reach high-quality, high-paid jobs in software engineering, while enabling companies to reach their digital transformation objectives by upskilling their teams. And it creates another debt-free route to world-class education and careers.

Transform teams with Multiverse

Want to learn more about how to future-proof your workforce? Explore our upskilling solutions for software engineering teams or get in touch.

Searchlight is a talent intelligence platform that uses AI to help companies close their skills gaps.

It was founded in 2018 by Anna and Kerry Wang. As twin sisters who not only look similar in person but also on paper with experiences at Stanford, Google, and McKinsey, they were motivated to create a world where people are understood for their unique skills and matched to the right companies. The Stanford graduates started their journey with Y Combinator, and have since been recognized by Forbes 30 under 30 and raised funding from venture capital funds Founders Fund and Accel.

AI technology

What first drew us to Searchlight was the proprietary AI technology they’d developed to assess both the skills that individuals have, and the skills that companies need.

We know, from working with more than 1,000 organizations globally, that leaders want to maximise the benefits that technology can bring to their teams. We’ve been working to help them bridge the gap between the digital transformation they want to see, and the essential skills required to unlock it.

The technology that Searchlight brings will enable us to turbo-charge our ability to bring digital transformation to even more companies, of all sizes: giving people the right skills to be successful in their careers, and deliver value to their organizations.

They’ll also bring an exceptionally talented team, who we can’t wait to start working with!

A shared mission

Co-Founder and CEO of Searchlight, Kerry Wang, said: “We founded Searchlight to help companies build winning teams equitably and help individuals land meaningful work. From the moment I met the Multiverse team, it was clear that we share complementary goals and have been solving similar problems. By joining forces we can apply Searchlight’s tech and expertise at scale with some of the world’s largest companies, effectively becoming the workforce development platform of the future.”

Co-Founder and CTO of Searchlight, Anna Wang, said: “Over the past six years, Searchlight has built custom data pipelines and proprietary, ethical AI models that understand talent holistically and predict the skills necessary for business success. Merging Searchlight’s existing AI and skills expertise with Multiverse’s rich data offers an unparalleled opportunity: together we will become the leader in leveraging AI for skills development.”

Founder and CEO of Multiverse, Euan Blair, said: “After meeting Anna and Kerry and digging into the Searchlight product, I was really excited at how they were using AI to spot patterns and identify skilling solutions both within and outside of the workforce. Most companies are on a journey of tech transformation and they want to do it in a way that is both equitable and effective. What often holds them back is the gap between the transformation they want to see, and the skills that will unlock it.

“Searchlight’s AI, platform, and exceptional talent will allow us to better diagnose the skills needed within companies and deliver impactful solutions. Combining our scale and world-class learning with Searchlight’s technology and team will ensure even more companies and individuals benefit.”

We’re already a way into the Multiverse story, and today we turn the page to an exciting new chapter. But, before you make an assumption based on the blog title, this isn’t the chapter that’s all pictures and no words.

Today we’re unveiling an update to our brand. We’re not changing our name, we’re still Multiverse - just with a refreshed visual identity and a renewed vigour to provide equitable access to economic opportunity, for everyone.

We could spend hours walking you through what’s changed, but if a picture paints a thousand words then we’re confident this video will do the talking.

Design lovers, this section is for you.

Our in-house creative team started this project to create a distinct and robust, yet easy-to-use design system that could flex across the entire Multiverse ecosystem. By collaborating with our learning and product teams (and supported by some talented design friends) the output will help us better communicate with our apprentices, our business partners and all our stakeholders.

Our new design system has been built around some of our signature brand elements and you’ll see this is simply an evolution, not a revolution.

Whilst our logo remains the same, we’ve dialled up the use of our signature (Ultraviolet) introduced a more accessible colour palette, streamlined our typography and doubled down on what makes us unique.

We’ve also introduced a playful illustration style to reflect the diversity and creativity of the team that makes Multiverse so unique. We live and breathe our values and don’t see the need to take ourselves too seriously.

What you see today is a look through the keyhole of how our brand and digital ecosystem will evolve over the coming years. We want you to come on this journey with us as we build a learning platform that’s led by people, powered by data and supercharged by tech.

Today, we’re setting a new course for our brand, for Multiverse and for work in general. If you’re inspired by what you’ve just read and what we’re building, take a look at some of our open roles.

AI can unlock business success, jobs, and economic growth that will benefit all of us.

But right now, it’s easy to feel like we spend more time talking about AI than we do using it. Half of UK businesses have still not started to implement any meaningful AI activity.

It’s right to be optimistic about the future that AI can bring, but those words need to be backed up by action. Businesses, teams and individuals need to start rethinking business as usual, bringing in AI tools to supplement their work, automating the tasks that are holding things back.

That requires skills.

Introducing AI for Business Value

Our new AI apprenticeship programme empowers employees to implement action in their organisations. Apprentices will become proficient in AI and learn how to find the areas where it can unlock growth, efficiency and revenue. They’ll work on projects to bring AI into different functions of their business,

The 13-month apprenticeship is called AI for Business Value and combines the business skills needed to be an effective operator with the AI skills needed to drive efficiency and productivity gains.

Apprentices will also learn skills like evaluating AI tools, how to measure the impact of implementing AI and bridge the gap between the business and technical sides of the organisation. Through our AI Jumpstart module, they’ll become power-users of generative AI tools by learning skills like AI ethics and prompt engineering.

Individuals will learn through Multiverse's tried and tested, Ofsted-outstanding delivery model. They'll receive personalised, one-to-one support and join a community of others sharing the same learning experience.

The business leaders at the forefront of AI know there’s urgency here: keeping pace means implementing training. In fact, the biggest AI advocates are 53% more likely to invest in AI training and feel better positioned to meet skills needs by 2030.

Help your teams generate value from AI

By training employees to actively identify new opportunities, while staying aware of potential risks, you can generate real business value and keep your organisation ahead of the curve.

Find out more about building AI teams in our latest ebook, or read more about our AI for Business Value programme on our website.

Now, we’re opening up a sample of the Multiverse learning experience to everyone: so you can improve your skills on one of our modules.

You can develop an in-demand skill in about an hour on the Multiverse learning platform.

Not only will you gain a new skill that will help you be more effective at work, but you’ll also get a taste of a Multiverse apprenticeship - and find out if it might be right for you.

We’re launching with a set of skills that apprentices tell us have unlocked new opportunities and efficiencies for them at work:

• Prompt Engineering: unlock your use of Generative AI tools and LLMs with prompt engineering, a set of powerful strategies that will help you get the most accurate and useful responses from Generative AI tools. Not to mention, Prompt Engineer vacancies are currently commanding salaries above $300,000
• AI Ethics: with many businesses concerned about the use of AI, employees who can navigate some of the legal and ethical dilemmas are in high demand. Through this module, you’ll learn about some of the considerations that should be made when using AI tools: like copyright, data protection and fair use
• VLOOKUPs: if you want to expand your spreadsheet skills, using VLOOKUPs is a fundamental skill that enables you to connect data points, enabling easier data retrieval and analysis

We’ll add more taster modules in the future based on your feedback.

We know from our thousands of learners that better skills unlock better opportunities at work.

We believe that the best learning happens through immediate application and practice. Our unique applied learning approach brings together real projects, an ecosystem of support and interactive learning that guides our apprentices to apply their skills both as they learn and as they work. You’ll get a taste of that while learning a quick skill on our platform: with quizzes, videos, challenges and personalized learning pathways.

While these modules are self-guided, Multiverse apprentices enrolled via their companies receive personalized, one-to-one support in order to guide both their learning and working experiences while on program.

Opening up these taster modules to everyone is just one of the ways that we’re opening up world-class training to everyone. For our apprentices, we’re using AI to facilitate on-demand coaching, launching new programmes in Artificial Intelligence for business, and more as part of a multi-million dollar investment in our tech.

Sign up now on our platform

Artificial Intelligence is creating new ways to add value to our learners and customers, and better routes through which to do it.

First, we’re equipping people with the skills they need to thrive in an AI age. We’ve already trained thousands of individuals in advanced AI skills via our data programmes, and last summer we rolled out AI training to every one of our apprentices.

And secondly, we see AI as a solution to some of the biggest challenges that education has faced to date. World-class training has been held back by scarcity: but the strength of AI is its ability to turn scarcity into abundance.

It’s why we’re investing heavily in our technology, to develop the tools that will unlock outstanding training to hundreds of thousands of learners.

This month, we’re launching one such tool: on-demand coaching, powered by AI.

The story so far

Expert, human coaches have always supported our apprentices, and will continue to do so. But we wanted to create something that could build on that support. To be there for apprentices whenever they have questions, with no delays. We know that, for example, our apprentices have a lot of questions as they approach crunch moments, projects and assessments - and those questions don’t always come during working hours.

So, during one of our regular hackathons, our tech team built a first iteration of an always-on, AI-powered assistant coach. It was immediately clear that this could benefit apprentices as a first port of call: to help them understand course material, overcome challenges, or brainstorm ideas.

Cem Gurkan, Product Manager, said: “As the world of work becomes more flexible and we push for more inclusive workplaces: not every assignment is done from 9-5 any more. The rapid acceleration in AI technology can make it possible for us to be there for apprentices whenever they need us.”

Enter: Multiverse Atlas.

Introducing Multiverse Atlas

Multiverse Atlas is built on a commercially available Large Language Model (LLM), and has been carefully prompted to support our apprentices.

It’s designed to encourage a socratic method of coaching, aiding apprentices to delve into topics themselves and find solutions, rather than simply giving answers like an off-the-shelf chatbot might. Atlas can give career advice, answer questions on topics related to our programmes, and quiz apprentices on topics - helping them to study.

Clare Dodd, VP Global Delivery, said: “Our coaches are industry experts that go through a rigorous coaching academy that covers our coaching philosophy: how we teach apprentices to ensure they are empowered to do their best work, retaining and applying their skills and knowledge. Atlas enables coaches to do what they do best, whilst also providing assistance in the moment an apprentice needs it most.

“For Atlas to do that successfully, the learning team worked closely with the tech team to test and iterate Atlas’ style of responding to apprentices - guiding them to find answers, and referring them to their human coach when they need additional support.”

The prompt that powers Atlas went through more than 100 iterations over a three month building process, and it continues to evolve with the close input from our coaches.

Atlas tailors its responses to the apprentice it is speaking to: it knows who they are, the industry they work in, the sort of job they do and the apprenticeship programme they are studying. At the core of what we do is the belief that people learn better when content is personalised to them, and AI enables that at scale.

In our beta tests, more than 10,000 questions have been asked and apprentices found 90% of Atlas’ responses to be helpful. For when Atlas doesn’t have the answer, apprentices can speak directly to their coach from the same on-demand chat application. Coaches can also see Atlas’ responses and can clarify or correct. On-demand coaching ultimately enables apprentices to connect directly with support, no matter where they are.

Atlas in action

The future of AI at Multiverse

This is just the beginning. Multiverse Atlas, and our on-demand coaching, will keep evolving.

As you read this, Atlas is being trained on all of our courses: so it will soon know our programmes like Software Engineering or the Data Fellowship back to front, to guide apprentices through their work. We’re continuing to personalise Atlas to each learner, so it can provide advanced contextual support based on where they are in their programme. We want to build the ultimate assistant coach that journeys with apprentices and provides them helpful, tailored assistance as they learn.

Peppa Wise, VP GTM, said: “When we’ve asked business leaders, they’ve told us that they don’t have the skills they need to reap the productivity gains AI could bring. Through our module - AI Jumpstart - we're offering training to all of our apprentices in these technologies, to start to close that skills gap. And AI tools themselves will enable us to make that training even better, and reach even more people: so more businesses can see the benefits that AI will bring.”

And Atlas is just one part of how we’re thinking about AI. Looking to the future, we’ll launch more ways to ensure our apprentices are power-users of AI tools, and experts in machine learning: while building the tools that will enable world-class, personalised, applied learning at scale.

Multiverse’s ‘Best Places to be an Apprentice’ ranks areas using criteria from government and ONS data including the number of apprentices per business, growth in the number of new apprentices, the area's employment rate, and how affordable renting is across the towns and cities.

The analysis found that Wigan, Stoke-on-Trent, and Newcastle-under-Lyme are the top three areas to be an apprentice in England.

All three topped the list by scoring consistently highly in every category, particularly for the high number of apprentices per business.

The affordability of properties for apprentices to rent means that nine of the top 20 places are in the North of England, whilst London does not feature at all. Three areas are in the North East, three in the North West, and three in Yorkshire and the Humber. This compares to just four in the South East and one in the South West.

The analysis shows that the opportunity for apprentices stretches beyond big cities. Towns dominate cities in the ranking, with only five of the top 20 places being cities: Stoke, Plymouth, Hull, Southampton, and Sunderland.

Euan Blair, CEO at Multiverse, said: "Apprenticeships are an incredible vehicle for social mobility across the UK - and at Multiverse we’re proud to have apprentices in every corner of the country. Access to our apprenticeships has been unlocked by the use of tech to scale our offering nationwide and has allowed us to reach often overlooked areas.

"The spread of opportunities supports our belief in the ability for apprenticeships to be the tool that enables equitable access to economic opportunity, for everyone.”

We’re opening our entry-level apprenticeships to people of any age for the first time: enabling people in their 30s, 40s and 50s to restart their career, change direction, or even enter the workforce for the first time.

More than 50% of our apprentices are currently over the age of 30 on upskilling and reskilling programmes, and we know the benefit apprenticeships can have for those of any age.

That’s why, now, all of our apprenticeships are open to anyone: whether you’re entering the workforce for the first time, reskilling into a new career or industry, or uplevelling your skills.

Euan Blair, CEO of Multiverse, said: “There’s long been a belief that apprenticeships are only for young people. This isn't true: apprenticeships can support a broad range of people at multiple stages in their lives to control the trajectory of their careers.

“Our mission is to provide equitable access to economic opportunity for everyone. Supporting people of any age to access apprenticeships is another step towards delivering this.”

In December, our research found that more than 5m UK workers over the age of 50 are considering retiring early, creating a large risk to an already strained workforce: many of whom are concerned about not having the modern skills employers are currently looking for.

Blair said: “The changing tech landscape proves that people of all ages need new skills, and the opportunity to reimagine what their career can be. Whether someone is 16 or 60, we want to use apprenticeships to support them to build meaningful, sustainable, and well paid careers."

Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education Robert Halfon said: “Apprenticeships are for everyone, at all ages and stages of their career. So, it is brilliant news that Multiverse is removing all age restrictions from their apprenticeships, enabling more people to retrain and upskill later in life. Multiverse understands the wealth of benefits apprentices bring to businesses across the country.

“Apprenticeships are crucial to giving people from all backgrounds the chance to gain the skills they need to unlock their potential while addressing skills gaps and helping to grow our economy. That’s why we’re increasing investment in apprenticeships to 2.7 billion available by 2024/25, extending the skills ladder of opportunity to all.”

Eimerman joins Multiverse from the online education company Pluralsight where he served for nine years, most recently as Chief Product Officer. Earlier in his career he helped build TrainSignal, which was acquired by Pluralsight in 2013. Throughout his career, Eimerman has excelled in combining learning expertise with commercial responsibilities, building on a strong foundation in product and tech.

Gary said: ‘Our mission couldn’t be more urgent. Right now people are either switching off from learning, or taking over a trillion dollars of student loan debt to the grave. It doesn’t have to be that way.

‘Applied learning combines the best of learning with paid work, and opens the door for people to get the education on tomorrow's technologies while earning money and becoming productive and motivated team members. This is a huge win both for the individuals and the companies in need of today’s most in demand roles.

‘It means our team isn’t just transforming careers by teaching people how to learn, we are delivering meaningful system change in the process’.

Multiverse works with over 10,000 apprentices and 1,000 businesses already, training individuals on programs in the tech, data and engineering skills needed to thrive across a variety of different roles. When inspected most recently by UK regulators, assessors praised Multiverse’s ‘outstanding’ provision for having an ‘ambitious curriculum that closely reflects what employers need so that apprentices make rapid progress’.

Our learning team is constantly innovating to give apprentices the tools to make an impact in their roles and careers. Just this month we launched an AI Jumpstart module, available to all apprentices at no cost, to give them the fundamentals to make use of AI tools in the workplace.

Illinois-based Eimerman is one of a number of senior leaders to join the business this summer, including Alex Varel who has been appointed Chief Revenue Officer, and Ujjwal Singh, our Chief Product and Technology Officer.