AI literacy and governance: what should practitioners do now?

TL;DR: AI literacy is moving from a training preference to a governance requirement as organisations embed AI into workflows and customer journeys, with the EU AI Act making staff knowledge and training a formal obligation, according to Collibra. The real issue is not awareness alone but whether decision-makers can govern AI safely, consistently, and at scale.

NHIMG editorial — based on content published by Collibra: Why AI Literacy isn’t optional anymore and what to do about it

By the numbers:

• Gartner predicts that by 2027, organizations that prioritize AI literacy at the executive level will outperform their peers financially by 20%.

Questions worth separating out

Q: How should organisations operationalise AI literacy for governance teams?

A: Start by defining which roles must understand AI risk deeply enough to approve, monitor, or audit use cases.

Q: Why does AI literacy matter for identity governance programmes?

A: Because identity governance depends on people correctly understanding who or what is acting, what access it has, and who is accountable.

Q: What do organisations get wrong when they treat AI literacy as training only?

A: They assume completed courses equal operational readiness.

Practitioner guidance

• Define role-based AI literacy thresholds Set different minimum expectations for executives, approvers, risk owners, and operators.
• Map AI use cases to identity subjects Document whether a workflow is driven by a human, a service account, or an AI-enabled decision process.
• Build literacy evidence into governance records Record training completion only as a starting point.

What's in the full article

Collibra's full blog post covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:

• Role-specific training examples for business, data, and governance teams
• Practical guidance on embedding AI literacy into onboarding and internal knowledge hubs
• Examples of how AI literacy links to policy review, leadership development, and applied learning
• Details of Collibra's AI Governance training course series and partner access terms

👉 Read Collibra’s analysis of why AI literacy now matters for governance →

AI literacy and governance: what should practitioners do now?

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