$20M Investment in Skills Snowflake’s Vision for AI and Data Excellence
Snowflake, the AI Data Cloud company (NYSE: SNOW), has launched its One Million Minds + One Platform program, aiming to train and certify over 100,000 users on the Snowflake AI Data Cloud by 2027 at no cost and upskill one million individuals in data and AI by 2029. Backed by a $20 million investment, this initiative provides free training and certification courses to students and workers in high-growth and emerging markets worldwide. By offering curriculum resources, platform credits, and hands-on training, Snowflake seeks to empower the next generation of business and technology professionals with advanced AI and data skills.
Addressing Workforce Challenges
A 2024 Gallup poll revealed that 22% of workers fear job obsolescence due to advancements like generative AI, while 72% of Fortune 500 CHROs predict AI will replace some roles within three years. To stay competitive, workers need to adopt new skills in cutting-edge technologies.
“To succeed in this digital age, every employee must be equipped with the skills to thrive in a data and AI-centric world,” said Sridhar Ramaswamy, CEO of Snowflake. “Our investment ensures that academic institutions and workers worldwide gain the tools and training to build successful careers as tomorrow’s technologists and entrepreneurs.”
Program Highlights
The One Million Minds + One Platform program focuses on two key areas:
- Snowflake for Academia
Snowflake provides students free access to its software, training materials, and industry-leading curriculum for educators. The Snowflake for Academia program offers educators enablement courses, certification, and teaching resources ranging from foundational courses to advanced tutorials, including semester-long Academia Lab access at no cost.
“Academia’s role is to expose students to real-world tools and technologies,” said Nate Crawford, Faculty at the University of St. Thomas. “With Snowflake’s free curriculum and credits, we deliver essential skills for a rapidly changing job market. This exposure nurtures future leaders and develops the skills employers seek.”
Snowflake plans to double its global enrollment of educators and institutions teaching and certifying students on the Snowflake platform within the next year.
- Training for High-Growth and Emerging Markets
Snowflake will introduce new platform training for workers and students in regions such as ASEAN, Canada, Germany, India, Korea, LATAM, and Saudi Arabia. These live, instructor-led sessions provide hands-on experience with Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud. Participants will learn data warehousing, data lakes, AI/ML, and more, culminating in the SnowPro Platform Associate Certification by February 2025.
Key skills covered include:
- Navigating Snowflake’s interface and Notebooks
- Creating databases and using compute resources
- Managing structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data
- Understanding Snowflake roles and data access
- Utilizing Snowflake Cortex LLM functions
Broader Educational Strategy
The One Million Minds + One Platform program complements Snowflake University, which offers on-demand and instructor-led courses for data professionals. These resources have supported hundreds of thousands in advancing their data projects, from foundational skills to complex data initiatives.
