University of Leicester Rolls Out Microsoft 365 Copilot to 25,000 Students and Staff

My take: The University of Leicester launched this month the deployment of Microsoft 365 Copilot to its entire community: 21,000 students and 4,000 staff, with mandatory digital skills modules required before receiving full access. It is one of the first universities in the United Kingdom to do this at this scale, which is not a minor detail: this is not simply about handing out a tool, but about making AI proficiency an institutional academic requirement.

The move says something concrete about where the job market is heading. When universities begin requiring students to demonstrate AI competencies before graduating, workplace expectations will rise in parallel. Employers who today treat AI skills as a bonus or a plus on a candidate's profile are about to meet a generation for whom it is the starting point.

For professionals who did not go through that system, the question is direct: how are you developing your own AI skills today, before they become the minimum floor for any position?