The boss of Pearson has insisted that the rise of artificial intelligence in the workplace is an opportunity for selling more of its training products, rather than a threat.
Omar Abbosh, chief executive of the FTSE 100 education group, said AI could be used to “augment people” in the workplace. “It can reduce the load on specific tasks, rather than an entire job,” he said, adding that there may come to be some exceptions.
Pearson’s clients include some of the world’s largest technology companies, which were also struggling with the pace at which AI is developing, Abbosh said.
Omar Abbosh
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JACK HILL
His comments came as Pearson reported an improvement in underlying revenue growth of 4 per cent during the third quarter and signalled a further acceleration ahead in the final three months of the year. Revenue was 2 per cent higher over the first nine months of the year.
Its virtual learning business posted a 17 per cent rise in revenue as enrolments were up 13 per cent.
The top line benefited from the signing of more enterprise training deals and embedding more AI into its software products, the company said.
The higher education business continued to suffer, however, in its most mature markets, which pushed revenue 1 per cent lower in the September quarter.
Better sales growth and cost savings are expected to come from simplifying its operating structure, which would cut out some duplication. Pearson, which used to own the Financial Times and a significant stake in Penguin Random House, had previously been run as a “company with a lot of disparate portfolio companies”, Abbosh said.
Management is targeting “sustained” operating profit margin improvement that will equate to about 40 basis points a year and a conversion of 90 to 100 per cent of cash generated by its operations to free cash. It is targeting an average “mid-single digit” revenue growth a year over the medium-term.
The shares closed up 25½p, or 2.3 per cent, at £11.19½.