PwC’s 85,000-worker AI-era certification starts in December

By Nathan Brooks

PwC US will put more than 85,000 employees through a roughly six-month critical-thinking certification beginning in December, as AI takes on more work in research, writing and analysis. PwC says the program will build and demonstrate employees’ critical thinking and judgment.

The rollout covers staff across PwC’s offices in the US and Mexico, plus workers in its Acceleration Centers, which support client work and business operations. Yolanda Seals-Coffield, PwC US’s chief people and inclusion officer, said the company expects participants to complete the program by its fiscal year-end in June 2027.

Seals-Coffield said AI already helps with research, writing and analysis that once involved largely manual work. She said: “As AI takes on more of these foundational tasks, some of the repetition that really helped our people to develop critical thinking and judgment just won't be there.”

She also said first-year associates now do different work than they did two years ago. A PwC analysis of US job listings found that entry-level roles exposed to AI were far more likely to include traditionally senior-level skills than in 2019. Judgment and leadership were among those skills.

PwC has identified 15 AI skills and 15 human skills, including empathy and adaptability, that the firm says will set employees apart. The certification centers on critical thinking and judgment. Its broader framework asks workers to evaluate information, establish context, challenge information and assumptions, refine analysis and communicate recommendations.

What does the certification change for employees?

For employees, the certification provides a development cycle rather than a one-time pass/fail test. Seals-Coffield said: “The idea of this certification is not to design a traditional pass/fail exam, but to give people these repeatable skills and then to encourage and create the space for them to be assessed against them at year-end.”

PwC will roll out the program in stages. Employees can apply the lessons in daily work before development leaders evaluate proficiency as part of performance reviews. Content will be customized by seniority and complement PwC’s instruction on responsible AI use and professional skepticism.

Seals-Coffield said training starts with a diagnostic that identifies a worker’s thinking style and how it shapes judgment. The diagnostic asks whether a participant questions assumptions, reflects on things or acts as a pragmatist. The exercise also identifies natural strengths and the areas requiring the most focus.

PwC is working with professors and veteran employees to develop classes that sharpen thinking skills. Next, employees will test the framework in realistic simulations that apply it to their work.

A personalized AI coach then helps staff carry simulation lessons into daily tasks, according to Seals-Coffield. It could rehearse difficult conversations or prepare client meetings, including reviewing an uploaded proposal and anticipating potential questions. It could also help identify which team member should take which role.

After certification, the AI coach can deliver instructional content as PwC determines updates are needed. The company also plans to keep assessing employees against their AI and human skills proficiencies throughout their careers, Seals-Coffield said.

Seals-Coffield said PwC has broadened its approach to hiring over the past two years and is hiring more engineers and technologists than ever across its businesses. Engineers were already common in advisory; PwC now also places them in tax and assurance, she said.

The firm continues to recruit on college campuses and extends offers to the majority of its summer interns. PwC declined to release year-over-year figures on entry-level hiring.

For employees, the change is concrete: they will build repeatable habits and have those skills assessed in performance reviews, rather than relying on repetition that AI is taking away. The program’s first hard checkpoint arrives at fiscal year-end in June 2027.