A lack of investment in AI skills could cost Poland its chance to boost innovation, according to a report by the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) and the Interface platform.
The report describes a talent pyramid that is wide in the middle and thin at the top and bottom.
They estimate that 64 percent of Poland’s AI workforce is at the mid-level, 20 percent are top-tier experts, and 14 percent have basic skills.
That imbalance shows up in hiring data. There are roughly 0.6 qualified candidates for each advanced AI vacancy and 0.7 for roles needing only elementary know-how, while mid-level posts have 1.3 candidates per opening.
Without a push to grow both senior specialists and entry-level users, the report warns, Poland risks settling into a role of implementing other people’s ideas rather than creating its own.
Kamila Kierzek-Mechło, a business AI specialist quoted in the study, said Poland has “strong foundations,” crediting technical universities, including the Military University of Technology in Warsaw, with producing capable graduates, many of whom have gone abroad.
She added that Poles have played important roles at global firms such as OpenAI, DeepL and ElevenLabs. Yet she argued that the next leap in productivity depends on spreading basic AI skills to workers outside the tech sector.
She likened those fundamentals to workplace safety training, saying they should be standard for every job.
Some companies, she said, are deepening the skills gap by blocking staff from using AI tools instead of training them to do so responsibly.
The report highlights a shortfall in beginner-level competence just as employers are seeking it.
International comparisons suggest remedies that could work. Finland’s free Elements of AI online course has trained hundreds of thousands of people, helping to make that country a leader in basic AI knowledge.
In Poland, by contrast, only about 1 percent of job listings relate to AI, while in Portugal and Cyprus the figure exceeds 3 percent, an indicator of how quickly demand can grow when awareness and training spread.
Another obstacle is the gender gap. Women make up 21 percent of AI experts in Poland, the report says, compared with 31 percent in the Czech Republic, 28 percent in Italy, and 39 percent in Finland.
Experts point to cultural expectations that steered women toward human resources or marketing two decades ago, a lack of role models in male-dominated teams, career breaks linked to motherhood, and stereotypes that discourage promotion to expert roles.
The report recommends flexible work arrangements, remote options, mentorship for women in AI, targeted grants and scholarships, and conscious hiring to break the glass ceiling.
The authors argue that more diverse teams tend to be more creative and innovative, which is vital in a fast-moving field.
Kierzek-Mechło called AI “tools on steroids,” saying they enhance human work rather than replace it. She said the main challenge now is education and easing fear.
The report’s conclusion mirrors that view: Poland can lead in Central Europe if it builds a stronger cadre of top-level innovators while bringing basic AI skills to the broader workforce.
Without that two-track effort, the country could remain a safe but average service base for larger players as the AI revolution gathers pace.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP, wnp.pl