Across Europe and the US, skills systems are struggling to keep pace with rapidly shifting labour‑market demands - and young people are feeling the impact acutely. Employers are cutting early‑career roles while simultaneously expecting stronger practical capability, AI fluency and job‑readiness from new entrants. Traditional education pathways are failing to deliver the talent pipeline businesses need, leaving many young people without a clear or confident route into meaningful work.
This session brings together investors, founders and infrastructure operators - who underpin the vocational technology and skills for work ecosystem - to explore where innovation and capital can have the greatest impact.
Drawing on insights from Ufi Ventures’ ongoing market intelligence programme, the discussion will examine why capability signals matter more than ever, how portfolio‑based and project‑based assessment is reshaping hiring, and spotlight the ventures and investable opportunities defining the fast‑evolving learning-to-work market segment.
Attendees will have access to the Ufi VocTech Showcase taking place in the same venue from 5:30pm. There is no need to register again to attend the Showcase.
Panellists
Wendy Corns
Global Leader - Skills to Jobs, Amazon Web Services
Wendy is a Global Leader for Skills to Jobs Tech Alliances at Amazon Web Services (AWS), where she drives strategic collaborations between education providers and industry to close digital skills gaps and prepare students for technology careers. Having started her career in Human Resources, she combines deep workforce development expertise with over two decades of experience in technology adoption across public sector and enterprise organisations. This unique background provides her with invaluable insight into the challenges organisations face in developing and upskilling their workforce to meet rapid technological advancements.
Andy Dillow
COO, Springpod
Andy is Chief Operating Officer for Springpod, a career education platform helping 200+ employers, universities and industry bodies design and deliver virtual work experiences at scale. With clients including Rolls Royce, Marriott, Amazon and the BBC, Springpod has had over 1.5m enrolments on the platform and engages with more than 45k active learners each month, generating over £100m in social value to date.
Helen Gironi
Director, Ufi Ventures
Helen is the Director of Ufi Ventures, the UK's specialist investor in technology for skills and workforce development. Helen has been investing in early-stage ventures since 2002 and early-stage impact ventures since 2016, and currently sits on the board of Learnerbly, Learning Labs and Data Literacy Academy.
Nick Kind (Chair)
Education and Future of Work Advisor
Nick works with investors, philanthropies, foundations, family offices, governments, and mission driven organisations to discover, deliver and measure effective interventions in education. He has more than 30 years of experience spanning strategy, investment, corporate development, and digital product leadership across all stages of lifelong learning. Nick is currently a Senior Advisor to Tyton Partners and to European impact investor Creas.
Aish Moothan
Ventures Manager, Resolution Ventures
Aish is Ventures Manager at Resolution Ventures - the UK's first social investment fund dedicated to improving work for people in low-paid and precarious employment. Her career has focused on impact investment, corporate innovation and early-stage start-ups. Previously, Aish worked for the Ventures Arm at the BBC and prior to that she worked as part of the Investment & Portfolio team at Bethnal Green Ventures.
