New for 2026 · Approved for delivery from 28 April 2026
The AI Leadership apprenticeship is now a three-unit Level 5 pathway
AI Strategy and Opportunity, AI Adoption, Procurement and Governance, and AI Delivery and Organisational Transformation. Up to £2,250 combined government funding per learner. Take one unit, two, or the full pathway.
Read the full explainer →The AI Leadership Pathway | 3 Level 5 Apprenticeship Units for Senior Leaders
The AI Leadership Apprenticeship.
Strategy. Governance. Transformation.
A premium Level 5 pathway for CEOs, MDs, COOs, transformation directors, and HR and compliance leads. Three sharper units that replace the old AI Leadership unit. Take one to close a specific gap, or run the full pathway to move your leadership team from AI strategy to safe, scaled transformation. Up to £2,250 per leader, government funded. No EPA. Not sure where to start? Take our 3-minute Fit Assessment.
Not sure which units fit? We built two tools.
Most of the questions buyers ask in the first call — "do we need all three?", "is a pilot enough?", "which unit is right for me?" — can be answered in three minutes. No demo, no email signup, just a tailored read.
Employer Fit Assessment
What you get: a tailored recommendation on whether your leadership team needs one unit, two, or the full pathway — based on your AI maturity, governance gaps, adoption signals, and cohort size.
- 7 questions about your org’s AI maturity
- Tells you if you should pilot or run a full closed cohort
- Points at the right unit(s) and the right cohort size
Unit Picker for Leaders
What you get: a personal role-fit profile across the three units — tells you which unit lines up with your role, where your gap is, and what to take to your line manager or L&D team.
- 6 role-based questions
- Visual % score across all three units
- Recommends one unit or the full pathway based on your profile
Both tools work on mobile. Results take you straight to the right next step (pathway page, fit call, or details for your line manager).
Hands-on with the platforms shaping business today
ChatGPT
Copilot
Claude
Gemini
GrokWho Is This For?
If you make decisions that shape how your organisation works, this is for you. No technical background needed. Just the ambition to lead AI adoption with confidence.
"I set the direction for my organisation"
MDs, CEOs, owners, and senior leaders who need to understand what AI means for their business and how to act on it.
"I manage a department or function"
Heads of department, operations managers, and senior managers who need to translate AI strategy into practical action for their teams.
"I'm responsible for risk and governance"
Leaders who need to ensure AI is adopted safely, ethically, and in line with regulations. Compliance, legal, and governance roles.
"I'm leading a change programme"
Transformation leads, project directors, and programme managers tasked with bringing AI into the organisation and making it stick.
"I develop our people"
HR leaders, L&D managers, and training directors who need to understand AI skills gaps and build workforce plans for the future.
"I know we need AI but don't know where to start"
Experienced managers at any level who can see AI is changing their industry and want to get ahead of it rather than react to it.
This is not a technical or coding programme. No IT background required. You will learn to lead AI adoption, evaluate tools, and make strategic decisions - not build the technology yourself.
What Your Leaders Will Learn
Eight domains. One complete AI leadership capability. Click any domain to see what it covers.
AI Strategy and Organisational Direction
Tap to learn moreGovernance, Ethics and Responsible AI
Tap to learn moreLeadership, Delivery and Change
Tap to learn moreWorkforce Transformation
Tap to learn moreAI Procurement and Investment
Tap to learn moreEnterprise Risk and Readiness
Tap to learn moreCommunication and Trust
Tap to learn morePractical AI Tools and Platforms
Tap to learn moreClick any domain above to see what it covers.
The TESS AI Leadership Pathway
Three Level 5 apprenticeship units, designed to work together. Each stands alone as a targeted leadership upgrade. Taken in sequence, they move your leadership team from AI opportunity, through responsible adoption, to delivery at scale.
AI Strategy and Opportunity
Where should AI play in your organisation? Senior leaders identify opportunities, build commercial value cases, and align AI ambition to business strategy. Sets the frame for everything that follows.
AI Adoption, Procurement and Governance
How do you adopt AI responsibly? Build governance frameworks, make sound procurement calls, and manage the risks that sit alongside every AI decision. The spine of a safe AI programme.
AI Delivery and Organisational Transformation
How do you scale it? Leaders drive AI-enabled change, manage workforce impact, and hard-wire audit, monitoring, and communication across the organisation. Where strategy and governance meet the real business.
The AI tools your leaders will learn to lead
The pathway is tool-agnostic but anchored in the real enterprise AI stack in use across UK organisations today. Strategy sets direction around these tools. Governance writes the policy, procurement and risk controls that cover them. Delivery drives the change programme, training and audit evidence that deploys them at scale.
Which of these tools belongs in your AI strategy? Leaders build the commercial value case for Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise, Claude, Gemini and the challenger stack.
The policy, procurement and risk frameworks that govern them. Data residency, training rights, indemnities, UK GDPR, acceptable use. One due-diligence pack across every vendor.
The change programme, training, adoption KPIs and audit evidence that deploy these tools at scale, with workforce impact and monitoring plans the board can sign off.
Product and company names shown are trademarks of their respective owners. TESS Group is not affiliated with or endorsed by these vendors; they are referenced as representative tooling leaders will set strategy around, govern, and deploy at scale under the three-unit pathway.
The TESS AI Skills Pyramid
Most providers offer one AI programme. TESS delivers AI skills at every level of your organisation, from the boardroom to the front line. Start at the top and cascade down.
AI Leadership Pathway
Senior leaders and directors. Three pillars: Strategy, Governance, Delivery. Take one, two, or the full pathway.
You are hereAI for Operations Leaders
Ops managers and department heads. CMI L5, cyber security, strategic AI.
View programme →AI for Coaching Professionals
Executive coaches and L&D specialists. CMI L5 Coaching, AI-enhanced practice.
View programme →AI for People Leaders
Team leaders and people managers. CMI L3, coaching, and AI adoption.
View programme →AI and Automation
Implementation teams across all departments. Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. Up to 5 qualifications.
View programme →Data-Driven Team Leader
Front-line managers. Data skills, leadership, and three qualifications.
View programme →Every programme is fully funded through the Growth and Skills Levy. TESS is one of very few providers approved to deliver AI skills at every level.
How Is It Funded?
Each of the three units is funded £750. Combined, the full pathway is worth up to £2,250 of government funding per learner.
Levy-Paying Employers
Use your existing Growth and Skills Levy funds. Each unit draws from the same digital account as full apprenticeships. Up to £2,250 per learner across the three-unit pathway, with no additional budget required beyond your existing levy commitment.
Non-Levy Employers (SMEs)
95 to 100% government funded depending on size. Apprenticeship units carry the same SME support as full apprenticeships, with £750 per unit and £2,250 across the full pathway. Your leaders develop AI leadership skills at minimal cost to the business.
How It Works
From first conversation to AI-confident leadership team in as little as four weeks. No bureaucracy, no EPA, no fuss.
Discovery Call
We understand your organisation's AI ambitions and current maturity. We scope the unit to fit your context and agree a timeline that works for your leadership team.
Enrolment
Simple paperwork. We handle the funding application and set up your cohort. Your leaders are registered and ready to start within days.
Delivery
Expert-led sessions delivered online via Zoom and Teams. Interactive workshops, real-world case studies, and 1:1 coaching tailored to your organisation's AI challenges.
Completion
Internal skills test validated by your organisation. Your leaders walk away with a practical AI strategy they can implement immediately. No EPA, no waiting.
Try the 3-min Fit Assessment first — it tells you whether a pilot or full closed cohort is the right ROI based on your AI maturity, gap profile, and cohort size.
How do you want to start?
Every organisation is different. Some want to pilot with one or two leaders first. Others want their entire leadership team aligned from day one. Both work - and we'll help you decide which is right.
Start with one or two leaders
Put your most senior AI champion through the unit first. They come back with a strategy, the board sees the value, and you roll it out to the wider team with confidence.
- Low commitment way to test the approach
- Your pilot leader becomes your internal AI advocate
- Scale to a full cohort when you're ready
- Same fully funded model - zero cost to start
Enrol your leadership team
When your whole leadership team goes through together, they build a shared AI language, agree a unified strategy, and hold each other accountable. The impact is transformational, not incremental.
- Shared vocabulary and vision across your leadership
- One cohesive AI strategy, not competing agendas
- Peer learning from different functional perspectives
- Tailored to your organisation's specific AI challenges
What leaders say after AI training with TESS
Senior leaders across the UK are already building AI capability with TESS. Here's what they say.
Before this, AI was something we talked about but never acted on. Within six weeks I had a strategy the board signed off on and a roadmap my team could actually execute. That shift from talking to doing was the real value.
I came in thinking AI was an IT project. I left understanding it's a leadership challenge. The governance framework alone saved us from making a costly vendor decision we were about to rush into.
We put three directors through together and the difference was immediate. For the first time, our leadership team had a shared language around AI. We stopped debating whether to adopt it and started debating how.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about the three new AI Leadership apprenticeship units.
Skills England has split the previous AI Leadership apprenticeship unit into three Level 5 units that together form a complete AI leadership pathway. AI Strategy and Opportunity covers board-level AI strategy and the commercial value case. AI Adoption, Procurement and Governance covers responsible AI implementation, vendor due diligence and policy. AI Delivery and Organisational Transformation covers scaling AI across the business, workforce, audit and monitoring. Each unit is 30 guided learning hours with £750 of government funding, giving a combined £2,250 pathway per learner.
Each unit is 30 guided learning hours, delivered typically over 1 to 16 weeks depending on the learner's schedule. Organisations often run the three units sequentially over 9 to 16 weeks, though each unit can also be taken on its own.
The pathway is tool-agnostic but anchored in the real enterprise AI stack in use across the UK today: Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise, Claude for Work, Google Gemini, Perplexity, and NotebookLM. Leaders learn to set AI strategy around these tools in the Strategy unit, write the policy, procurement and risk controls that govern them in the Governance unit, and drive the change programme and audit evidence to deploy them at scale in the Delivery unit.
Yes. Each unit is fully funded £750 per learner. For SME (non-levy) employers, this is 95 to 100% government-funded depending on size. For levy payers, the cost is drawn from the Growth and Skills Levy. Learners never pay.
Each unit is designed to stand alone. Organisations can choose a single unit to target a specific leadership gap, or run the full three-unit pathway for a complete AI leadership capability. TESS Group helps you choose the right entry point based on your AI maturity.
No. All three units are designed for strategic leaders, not technologists. They focus on AI governance, ethical frameworks, procurement, change management, and organisational readiness rather than coding.
No. Apprenticeship units do not require a formal EPA. Assessment is through an internal skills test validated by the employer, making the process faster and more practical than a full apprenticeship.
All three units are approved for delivery from 28 April 2026. TESS Group is one of the first providers approved and is taking expressions of interest for the first cohorts now.
Skills England withdrew the previous single AI Leadership unit on 21 April 2026 and replaced it with three more focused Level 5 units. Combined government funding increased from £1,000 to £2,250 per learner, and the curriculum now covers a wider leadership remit, from strategy to procurement to delivery.
The three units form the TESS AI Leadership Pathway. AI Strategy and Opportunity sets the strategy and opportunity frame. AI Adoption, Procurement and Governance hard-wires responsible adoption, procurement and governance. AI Delivery and Organisational Transformation drives delivery and transformation across the organisation. Taken together they move a senior leader from "where should we play" to "how do we scale responsibly".
Apprenticeship units are shorter (weeks not months), focused on a single competency area, have no EPA, and use employer-validated assessment. They are ideal for senior leaders who need specific AI skills without the time commitment of a 12 to 24 month programme.
Strategy. Governance. Delivery.
Your AI leadership pathway starts here.
Three new Level 5 units. £2,250 in combined funding per leader. TESS is one of the first approved providers and early cohorts are forming now. A 15-minute discovery call is all it takes to scope the right mix for your team.
Book Your Discovery CallYour leaders will work with
ChatGPTCopilotClaudeGeminiGrokContinue building your AI skills pipeline
The three AI Leadership units give your leadership team the strategy, governance, and delivery playbook. These programmes take your implementation teams and front-line managers to the next level.
The AI Leadership Pathway — closed-cohort delivery
All three units delivered as one 8-week closed cohort for 8–15 senior leaders. £2,250 per learner from levy. The full pathway, not the FAQ.
AU0009 vs AU0010 vs AU0011 — which unit do you actually need?
Side-by-side comparison and a 3-question picker. Avoid the most common L&D mistake (defaulting to Strategy).
AU0002 has split into three: what changed
Skills England’s 21 April 2026 decision explained. What moved, what’s new, and what employers should do next.
Closed-cohort rollout: 8 weeks across your leadership team
The week-by-week sequence, levy economics, and the five preconditions for the rollout to actually land.
AI and Automation L4
For implementation teams. Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. Up to 5 qualifications. 15 months, fully funded. Or the 8-month Accelerated route.
Data-Driven Team Leader L3
For front-line managers. Data skills, leadership, and three qualifications. 13 months, fully funded.
AI Prompting Accelerator
1-day workshop. Master ChatGPT, Copilot and AI tools. Ideal while waiting for unit start dates.
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