AI skills with mentoring – because in the future, too, we learn from each other
There is an interesting duality in the following. While almost everyone is talking about artificial intelligence, and an increasing number of us are using some form of AI tool in our daily lives, many employees still do not feel truly confident in this field.
ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini – the list grows longer day by day. But does having access to these tools really mean we know how to use them?
I think that is where the real challenge begins.
AI skills are no longer "optional"
Artificial intelligence is becoming less and less the exclusive tool of a narrow technological layer. It is moving into education, marketing, HR, finance, project management – virtually everywhere.
And this means that AI upskilling, that is, developing the AI competencies of existing staff, is slowly becoming not an optional corporate training, but a fundamental competitiveness issue.
However, the solution in my view is not to enroll every colleague in yet another online course.
After all, how many trainings have we completed in our lives where a significant portion of the acquired knowledge simply vanished a few weeks later?
The real question is rather: how does acquired knowledge turn into everyday practice?
This is where mentoring can step in
Imagine a corporate AI mentorship program!
The employee learns the basics of a generative AI tool, and then, together with their mentor, begins to examine how they could apply all this in their own work.
Which of their routine tasks could they complete faster? How could they prepare a better first version of a presentation? How could AI support the preparation of a meeting, the interpretation of a dataset, or even brainstorming?
The mentor here is not necessarily an "AI guru." Much more of a learning partner: they ask questions, share experience, create a safe space for experimentation, and help reflect on what worked – and what didn't.
This is precisely one of mentoring's greatest strengths.
Reverse mentoring: when roles are reversed
AI upskilling can also be an especially exciting territory for reverse mentoring.
What happens when a digitally confident junior colleague helps an experienced leader use AI tools, while in return they receive business thinking, organizational knowledge, and managerial perspective?
Suddenly, the classic "teacher-student" setup disappears.
Instead, something much more valuable is created: a mutual learning partnership.
And perhaps this is precisely what we need in the age of AI.
Using AI is not the ultimate goal
In my view, AI upskilling is successful not when we simply write more prompts, but when we begin to think differently about our own work.
What is worth automating? What must we still decide as humans? When can we trust AI's output, and when is it necessary to critically check it? Where do the ethical and data security boundaries lie?
A single training rarely gives lasting answers to these questions.
A well-structured mentoring relationship, however, creates an opportunity to return to them again and again – now in possession of real workplace experiences.
Therefore, in my opinion, the successful organizations of the future will not simply purchase AI tools. They will build a learning culture around them.
And in this, mentoring can be one of our most powerful tools.
Because while technology changes at an astonishing speed, one thing remains surprisingly constant: as humans, we learn best from each other and with each other.
Friendly regards,
Károly Vizdák
lifestyle change & career coach
self-awareness mentor
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