The Institute of Employability Professionals (IEP) is delighted to announce an exciting new chapter in its relationship with Beam, with Beam becoming the IEP’s Official AI Technology Partner as the organisations enter their second year of global partnership.
Building on a successful first year working together, the renewed partnership represents a significant step forward in the relationship between IEP and Beam, moving beyond a traditional partnership arrangement towards a strategic innovation partnership focused on supporting the responsible adoption of AI across the employability profession.
Beam will work closely with the IEP to help explore how AI technology can support employability professionals and organisations to improve services, increase capacity and ultimately help more people move towards and into work.
A central focus of the partnership will be helping to bridge the gap between innovation and professional practice. IEP and Beam will work together to engage with commissioners, providers and sector leaders, creating opportunities to demonstrate what responsible, effective AI can look like in the employability world and exploring some of the barriers that can prevent useful technology reaching the professionals who could benefit from it.
The partnership will also see Beam play an active role across the IEP community internationally, contributing to events, webinars, thought leadership and conversations about the future of technology in employability. The two organisations have committed to a 12-month programme of joint events and communications, alongside engagement with organisations and leaders across the sector.
Dani Hubbard, Strategic Lead at Beam, said:
“We love partnering with the IEP because our missions are really aligned. The IEP exists to support the people who support others into work. Beam exists to make sure AI serves society, and for us, that means helping frontline workers support more people into work. Different starting points, but the same mission: supporting the people doing the hard work on the frontline.
“That shared mission is what’s made this past year as an IEP Global Partner so rewarding, and it’s exactly why we’re thrilled to now be recognised as the IEP’s Official AI Technology Partner. Over the next 12 months, we’re excited to build on that momentum, working with the Government and leading providers to clear the barriers between good tools and the caseworkers who need them, with responsible, human-centred AI running through all of it.”
Scott Parkin FIEP, Group Chief Executive of the IEP, said:
“AI is developing incredibly quickly, and the question for our profession is increasingly not whether it will play a role in employability services, but how we make sure it is used well.
“Our partnership with Beam is about bringing technology and professional practice closer together. The people working on the frontline understand the realities of supporting people into work, and their experience and professional judgement must remain at the heart of how technology develops and is used.
“We have really valued our relationship with Beam over the past year, and I’m delighted that we are taking that relationship to another level. Beam will continue to work alongside the IEP and our partners around the world to help us explore what responsible, human-centred AI can contribute to better services, stronger professional practice and, ultimately, better outcomes for the people we support.”
The partnership will include opportunities for Beam to contribute to IEP events and learning conversations, including the IEP Summit here in the UK and Australia, as well as webinars and other activity designed to share learning, examples of innovation and emerging practice with the wider employability profession.
Beam will also continue as an IEP Capability Partner, with IEP membership available to Beam staff and opportunities for members of its team to engage more widely with the IEP’s international professional community.
Looking ahead
Over the coming year, the IEP and Beam will use the partnership to open up practical conversations about AI across the employability sector – bringing together technology, frontline experience, professional standards and evidence to help ensure innovation delivers genuine value.
The IEP will share further opportunities for members, partners and the wider profession to engage with Beam and the partnership over the coming months.