Upskilling and Upscaling for the Future at IKEA

As AI advances with technologies such as GPT-4, companies are beginning to come to terms with the fact that “soft skill” education is crucial in creating a future industry for the retail world. GPT-4 functions as a natural language processing tool driven by tech that can use its language model for hard skills such as answering questions and assisting with tasks such as composing emails, essays, and code.

How, exactly, is the rapid development of AI and the hard skills it is equipped with influencing the retail industry’s workforce?

On this episode of Retail Refined, Host Melissa Gonzalez, live at Shoptalk Europe 2023, discusses the importance of adapting to new technology for the future of IKEA with the Group People & Culture Manager of IKEA Retail (Ingka Group), Ulrika Biesèrt. With that in mind, Ingka Group and IKEA plan on implementing 3,500 new jobs and opening 17 new locations in the United States alone. Already, the group has invested over ten million euros on educational programs to promote said soft skills as “hard skills.”

“Technology, advancement, digitalization, and automatization will have a huge impact on us as coworkers and we [as a company] really need to understand [as to] what we need to do to reskill and upscale,” Biesèrt said.

Gonzalez and Biesèrt also discussed…

● How everyone can thrive in the current work environment

● The mismatch between the skills workers have and the skills they need

● The future of IKEA with reskilling and upscaling through democratic learning

“I hear us talking about that there is a need of ‘soft skills.’ I think they are hardcore skills in the future. So, lead organization, artificial intelligence. Where will people add value? It’s innovation, it’s creativity, it’s more emotional intelligence. How do I meet the customer?… and I think we need to be training them as hardcore skills and not treating them as soft skills,” Biesèrt explained.

Ulrika Biesèrt, IKEA Retail (Ingka Group People & Culture manager), is a member of the Ingka Group Management team. It is key to her role to ensure the company is always guided by its purpose and values, keeping customers and co-workers at the heart of what it does so that both business and people grow together.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

whole health index
Whole Health Index
May 22, 2025

Dr. Sam Ambewadikar returns to break down Anthem’s Whole Health Index (WHI)—a powerful tool that distills medical, social, environmental, and behavioral data into a single score (0–100) to identify members most at risk. By surfacing factors like transportation deserts, housing instability, or food insecurity, WHI enables Anthem care managers and advocates to proactively match members…

Read More
pcp
PCP Attribution Analysis
May 22, 2025

Dr. Sam Ambewadikar, RVP and Medical Director at Anthem National Accounts, joins Brent to unpack the power of primary care attribution analysis—a tool he helped pioneer to spotlight the clinical and financial impact of members not having an established PCP. Drawing from his background as a practicing pediatrician and claims analytics leader, Dr. Sam shares…

Read More
sydney health
Sydney Health Demo
May 22, 2025

In this episode, Christina Firouztash, Executive Advisor of Digital Solutions at Anthem, gives a dynamic walkthrough of the Sydney Health app—Anthem’s flagship digital member experience. Christina showcases how Sydney delivers personalized, simple, and equitable navigation across benefits, including virtual care, pharmacy, financial transparency, and social services access. From contextual chatbots and ID card access to…

Read More
pharmacy
Pharmacy Part 1
May 22, 2025

In this episode, Brent chats with Katie Brennan, National Sales Director at CarelonRx, about making pharmacy benefits more accessible, consistent, and member-friendly. Katie spotlights Carelon new advanced home delivery model, which brings the pharmacy counter—and the pharmacist—into the member’s home. With fewer retail pharmacies offering extended hours and many patients lacking reliable transportation, CarelonRx is…

Read More