Workforce development, career and technical education (CTE), and nonprofit leaders are under pressure to deliver stronger outcomes in a volatile labor market, often with tighter budgets and rapidly evolving technology. In a recent webinar, CompTIA Economics and Public Policy Advisor Dr. Mardy Leathers spoke with Per Scholas CEO Plinio Ayala about how to cut through the hype and use data, AI, and credentials as practical tools for impact.
Together, they outlined practical steps any organization can take to build expertise, improve decision‑making, and prepare learners for an AI‑driven world.
From data deluge to expertise
Leathers underscores that leaders aren’t struggling to access information; they're struggling to turn it into insight that drives sound decisions. “Within 10 minutes, we can generate or retrieve a million lines of data on nearly any topic,” he notes. If even 1% of that data is relevant, our brains are already overloaded. His conclusion is blunt: “The modern workforce doesn’t suffer from a shortage of information. It suffers from a shortage of expertise.”
In other words, the true limiting factor is the ability to critically analyze what is in front of you, filter signal from noise, and turn information into recommendations. AI intensifies this by increasing access to data and content. Those who can “turn the flood of data into clear, actionable insights,” Leathers argues, will define the future of work across professions.
To build that expertise, organizations need a reliable way to validate skills and create a shared baseline of capability. Leathers points to industry‑recognized CompTIA programs, backed by thousands of immersive training and upskilling offerings delivered globally, as a trusted measure of individual capability.
For nonprofits, the goal is to build internal capability so that technology and data support the mission, rather than distracting from it. Leathers highlighted a simple but powerful progression:
- Foundational credentials like CompTIA Tech+ and CompTIA A+ help teams troubleshoot systems, maintain digital infrastructure, and ensure continuity in data‑rich environments.
- Security credentials like CompTIA Security+ strengthen cybersecurity acumen, protecting the integrity, privacy, and resilience of the data that drives impact.
- Data and AI credentials like CompTIA Data+ and CompTIA AI Essentials provide structure for the higher‑order skills now in demand: the ability to critically analyze, filter, and interpret what matters most.
The takeaway for skeptical leaders is not that every staff member needs a certification, but rather that a deliberate strategy can:
- Stabilize your technical foundation
- Protect the data you rely on to prove outcomes
- Give staff and learners a structured path into data and AI literacy
Without that structure, you risk asking people to operate in a data‑ and AI‑rich environment with no shared baseline of capability, creating inconsistency as programs grow.
Per Scholas shows what it looks like to avoid that pitfall and build for scale.
How Per Scholas scaled: Leadership, data, and partnerships
Per Scholas offers a concrete example of what it looks like to put these ideas into practice at scale. The organization grew from a local digital divide initiative into a national workforce program across more than 20 cities, with a plan to train 25,000 people by 2030. Ayala is explicit about the stakes: “We’re changing not just the lives of individuals that sit in our classroom...the impact is multi-generational.” That sense of responsibility shapes how he leads and how the organization grows.
The leadership pivot
Ayala shared a story from his early days as CEO, when the founder and then‑chairman visited the organization. “He shows up in our facility, and he asks for an update,” Ayala recalls. “I walked him around. I knew what everyone was doing and what was going on in every meeting, mostly because I made the decisions that created those scenarios… and I thought I nailed it.”
A year later, the organization had grown more complex. On a similar visit, Ayala no longer had all the answers. “He looked at me and said, ‘Do you trust the people that are making the decisions, that are leading these meetings, that are leading teams?’ And I said yes. And then he said, ‘Now we can grow.’”
Ayala reflects, “I was so fixated on making all the decisions that I was really inhibiting our ability to be innovative, to be creative.” Letting go and empowering leaders to lead allowed him to shift from a transactional, operational focus to a more strategic role, and helped propel the organization forward.
“I have been very intentional in not being the smartest person in the room,” Ayala says, and in surrounding himself with people who can supplement his weaknesses. Building complementary leadership teams is now central to how Per Scholas operates.
For workforce and nonprofit leaders, the lesson is clear: distributing decision‑making power is a prerequisite for innovation and sustainable growth.
Data as a non-punitive decision engine
Empowered leaders are only part of the story. Data is the other.
Per Scholas has built an evaluation team that looks at program data and uses it to make informed decisions about what should continue and what should be retired. Because team members are not involved in program creation, they can stay objective.
To ensure success:
- Every new initiative is attached to clear, measurable metrics
- Data is used to reduce guesswork and subjectivity
- Data is used to adjust and improve programs, not to be punitive
The result is a culture where, as Ayala puts it, “it’s perfectly OK to say we tried everything. This program, this initiative, this idea is not going to work for us, and it’s OK to let it go.” That willingness to fail fast and not fear failing, combined with a desire to continue to innovate, is how he explains much of their growth.
For other leaders, the lesson is not “collect more data.” It is to use data in a way that makes it psychologically safe to acknowledge when something is not working and change course. A non-punitive, evidence-based approach helps organizations improve quality, redeploy resources, and scale what works.
Partnership and focus
Per Scholas has also scaled by being highly selective about where and how it partners. “Partnerships are really at the heart of what we do,” Ayala says. “It is a key strategic component to our ability to grow and expand and have greater impact.”
When assessing a potential partner, Ayala looks for three things:
- Mission and values alignment: They need to “think very similarly about the work and the impact that we collectively could have together.”
- Mutual benefit: “A partnership doesn’t work if one of the partners is benefiting and the other is not.”
- Shared problem‑solving: Together, they should be solving a problem that one organization can’t solve alone.
The satellite model Per Scholas uses makes those principles tangible. After piloting a virtual training model just before the COVID‑19 pandemic, Per Scholas began partnering with organizations that had available space and were “very good in workforce development, they just didn’t know how to do tech training.” Per Scholas now broadcasts tech instruction from New York City and other hubs, while partners provide space, support services, and community reach. “It allows us to be able to serve people that we wouldn’t have been able to without the partner,” Ayala says.
Equally important is Ayala’s insistence on focus and the ability to say no. “Focus is incredibly important. Stay in your lane, do what you do well. Don’t allow mission creep,” he says. That includes the uncomfortable part for nonprofit leaders: saying no to opportunities that don’t fit.
“I’ve done that to funders, to new initiatives, to potential partnerships. It just was not exactly what I wanted that could fill our mission to the best of its ability, and saying no was hard, but I think it’s a huge and important component of being an effective leader.” In a funding environment where “yes” often feels like the safest word, it’s a reminder that sustainable growth requires clear boundaries and alignment to mission, not just more activity.
AI as a force multiplier when guardrails are clear
Per Scholas has applied the same discipline to AI. Rather than treating AI as a threat, the organization chose to embrace it early as a tool to enhance work and increase impact—not to replace roles, but to serve more people more effectively.
One example is a partnership with AdeptID, which created a bot to match graduates with employers. As Ayala frames it, this targeted a huge pain point: “As you scale and you have more graduates, it becomes harder to be able to make those matches fast enough.” The impact so far:
- 70% reduction in candidate matching time, from a week to less than two days
- Over 40,000 candidate matches generated so far in the pilot
- 71% of learners reported feeling more confident going into interviews and that the match made more sense for them
These outcomes translate into faster, more targeted connections between talent and opportunity, which is a core priority for workforce organizations and employers alike.
Per Scholas has also introduced Azari AI, a tutoring bot that helps meet learners where they are and customize training to augment what’s happening in the classroom. Early pilots have led to increased graduation and certification rates. For learners pursuing CompTIA and other industry certifications, this additional support can be the difference between a near‑miss and success.
Underpinning these tools are clear principles. Ayala stresses that if they use AI, “we’ve got to do it in a way that is responsible, right, that is equitable, that’s ethical.” The organization aims to become an “AI native organization,” and, in Ayala’s view, they are well on their way.
On the learner side, Per Scholas has not left AI to chance. “We needed to change every single one of our courses to include AI literacy,” Ayala says. That undertaking, which started early last year, has been embraced by learners and gives them an edge in the labor market. Embedding AI literacy across the curriculum aligns with what employers are asking for and complements CompTIA’s own emphasis on AI‑ready skills through credentials such as CompTIA Data+ and CompTIA AI Essentials.
Putting the lessons to work
Taken together, the lessons from Leathers and Ayala point to a clear path forward:
- Lead with data and judgment: Build evaluation practices that use data to improve programs, not punish people, and create space to stop what isn't working.
- Empower leaders and partners: Distribute decision-making, choose partners that share your mission, and design models that let each organization do what it does best.
- Adopt AI with guardrails: Treat AI as a force multiplier for staff and learners, with clear ethical guidelines and a commitment to AI literacy for everyone you serve.
Together, these practices can help organizations deliver stronger outcomes, even as technology and the labor market continue to evolve. CompTIA’s stack of credentials, from foundational IT and security to data and AI, provides a practical framework for building the internal capability, credibility, and learner pathways needed to put these ideas into action.
To hear the full conversation and dive deeper into these insights, watch the webinar recording of Dr. Mardy Leathers and Plinio Ayala.