All-In: what Guernsey’s AI Sprint is telling us about the future of work

Callum McCutcheon, Technology Consulting Director, PwC Channel Islands

We’re now about halfway through All-In, Guernsey’s AI Sprint. With more than 3,000 bookings across over 50 free events, the response has been strong and shows how much interest there is in practical AI.

What we’ve been doing

We started at the beginning of October with our launch event at St Pierre Park. Rob McCargow from PwC UK joined a panel with leaders from banking, education, and the charity sector. The shared view was clear: change is on the way, and it is likely to arrive faster than many people expect.

Sarah Simon and I ran a session on AI governance and risk. We looked at how organisations can use their existing structures and skills to make AI governance real and practical. My colleague Ralf Meijer led an AI for charities event, sharing concrete ideas on how charities can use AI day to day to free up time and improve services. Most recently, we ran our AML AI Hackathon. We gave participants hands-on experience and free access to Google Cloud Platform so they could develop, test, and refine their ideas.

Skills are the real gap

The energy around AI is growing. Yet many organisations still find it hard to put AI into practice, manage the risks, and get people to use it with confidence. In my view, this is mainly a skills and confidence gap, not a technology problem.

As we discussed in our launch event, education needs to come first. That means more than a one-off course. It means building everyday confidence across the organisation: knowing when AI can help, understanding the risks, knowing how to ask for what you need, and when you should question or challenge results. During the Sprint, we’ve had many open discussions on these topics. The opportunity now is to keep that momentum and turn those conversations into ongoing practice.

Is not using AI becoming the risk

One of the most thought-provoking debates has flipped the usual question. If AI gives people the tools to do more work, with more depth, than they could before, how long will it be easy to justify not using it

Cyber security is where this shows up most clearly. AI is already supporting more cyber incidents than ever, and attackers are using it to scale and refine their methods. Trying to defend without AI now carries its own risk. PwC’s 2026 Digital Trust Insights found that the biggest barriers to using AI for cyber defence are knowledge and skills gaps. That takes us straight back to education and to building capability with intent.

What I’d focus on

My main takeaways from the last few weeks are:

• Set the vision: Be clear about what AI is for in your organisation so people don’t have to guess.
• Invest in upskilling: Give people time to learn and experiment, and show that leaders are doing the same.
• Talk about it: Be open about what AI tools you use, what’s allowed, and what’s changing. If you don’t, people may work around you or worry in silence.
• Be open about the risks: Understand AI’s limits, know where it can fail, and share that openly alongside how you plan to manage those risks.
• Keep governance proportionate: Know where AI is used and who is accountable. Keep governance light for everyday use, and build on your existing risk processes rather than starting from scratch.

Where you can act now

There is still plenty planned before the Sprint closes on 12 November. One practical step over the next few weeks: choose one task where you’ll try to use AI to support your work, perhaps in an area where you’ve not considered AI before, and then share what you learn with your team. Small, shared experiments add up fast.

At PwC Channel Islands, we’re working through the same questions. We’re collaborating with organisations locally on AI governance, technology implementation, cyber security, and workforce planning. If those topics are on your agenda, let’s talk. We’re always ready to compare notes and share what we’ve learned in practice.