Apprenticeships are having another moment, and this time the story is not only about traditional trades. It is about AI, cybersecurity, defence, energy, health, agriculture, advanced manufacturing and the future of work.
The new AI in Registered Apprenticeship Innovation Portal from Apprenticeship.gov is a useful signal from the United States. It shows that AI is being treated as a capability to be embedded into real jobs, not only as a specialist technical pathway or a short course for people already in technology roles. The portal brings together resources, models and guidance to help employers and apprenticeship sponsors integrate AI into Registered Apprenticeship programs. Apprenticeship.gov (USA 2026) also reports that in 2025, more than 58,000 registered apprentices were served across technology, cybersecurity and AI related occupations.
That is worth watching from Australia, not because the US has the answers, but because it is making AI more visible inside the apprenticeship system. Australia has a long and strong history of apprenticeships, industry alignment and competency based training. Our system has always been at its best when employers, unions, TAFEs, RTOs, schools and governments work together around real workforce demand. The opportunity now is to bring that same history into emerging capability areas, especially where AI, digital systems, automation and data are becoming part of everyday work.
In the USA, Virginia is a good place to start, especially after spending time around Virginia Beach and seeing the strength of defence, maritime, veterans, education and workforce development ecosystems. Tidewater Community College in Hampton Roads is recognised as the first community college in Virginia to offer Registered Apprenticeships, partnering with employers across areas such as cybersecurity, maritime and skilled trades. Virginia also launched cybersecurity apprenticeships as early as 2016, with approved occupations including Information Security Analyst, Cyber Security Analyst and Incident Response Analyst.
This matters for Australia because Hampton Roads has obvious parallels with South Australia, Western Australia and other defence linked regions. When you look at AUKUS, naval shipbuilding, sustainment, cyber resilience and advanced manufacturing, the workforce challenge is not only about one qualification or one occupation. It is about building a long term pipeline of people who understand technical systems, security requirements, digital engineering, data, compliance, teamwork and applied problem solving.
Maryland provides another useful example. The Maryland Workforce Association has been working with BCR Cyber on a Cybersecurity Support Technician Registered Apprenticeship Program, with 171 hours of instruction, community college based cyber ranges and more than 40 business partners. This is practical because it connects training, simulation, employers and real cyber workforce needs.
New York has a different kind of relevance. Providers such as Flatiron School are promoting structured technical training in AI, cybersecurity and software engineering, paired with paid apprenticeship experience. This is not the same as a traditional trade apprenticeship, but the model is very familiar: learn, build, work, repeat.
Los Angeles is also moving. LA-Tech.org has announced a Pre-Apprenticeship to Apprenticeship pathway in AI, cybersecurity and software engineering, in partnership with BuildWithin and supported through LA County’s Youth@Work program, targeting more than 100 young people aged 18 to 24. This is the kind of youth engagement Australia needs more of, especially where young people can see the connection between school, technology, work experience, income and a real job pathway.
Texas shows the value of employer led and workforce agency supported models. The Texas Workforce Commission has an Office of Apprenticeship to help employers build current and future talent, while examples such as CyberDefenses and Westlink Academy point to cybersecurity apprenticeships that combine certification training, job placement and paid on the job learning.
Canada adds an important inclusion lens. The Government of Canada’s IT Apprenticeship Program for Indigenous Peoples is designed specifically for First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, providing a pathway into federal digital employment. It places emphasis on potential and transferable skills, rather than relying only on formal education credentials. That is a strong reminder that apprenticeship pathways can be used not only to fill skills gaps, but to open doors for people who have been locked out of technology careers.
Australia has its own strong examples, and they need to be recognised properly. South Australia’s defence workforce agenda is directly linked to AUKUS and naval shipbuilding. The South Australian Defence Industry Workforce and Skills Action Plan identifies that across naval shipbuilding and sustainment activities, more than 11,000 workers will be needed by the time projects peak in South Australia in 2040. It also includes Shipbuilding Employment Pathways, a fully paid apprenticeship pathway offering Certificate III qualifications in Electrotechnology, Engineering Fabrication and Engineering Mechanical.
There are also defence degree apprenticeships in South Australia, including Mechanical Engineering and Software Engineering, established as pilot programs to support defence industry workforce needs. These models are particularly important because they blur the old boundary between VET, higher education and employment. They are exactly the kind of pathway needed for AUKUS, cyber, software, systems engineering and advanced manufacturing.
For younger students, South Australia’s technical colleges are potentially highly relevant. The state has committed to five technical colleges and announced three additional technical colleges, with consultation to determine employment streams. This creates a real opportunity to align schools, apprenticeships, employers and industries such as defence, construction, energy, health, digital and advanced manufacturing.
Energy and renewables are another area where Australia has a strong base. The Australian Government’s Key Apprenticeship Program supports apprentices in clean energy and housing construction priority occupations from 1 July 2025. The earlier New Energy Apprenticeships Program was expanded in 2024 to include sectors exposed to clean energy such as housing construction, automotive and advanced manufacturing.
Agriculture also belongs in this conversation. The Australian Apprenticeships Priority List includes agriculture and agritech related qualifications such as Certificate III in Agriculture, Certificate IV in Agriculture and related environmental and primary industries pathways. In practice, agriculture is becoming more technical through sensors, mapping, drones, water management, robotics, biosecurity systems and AI enabled decision making.
Care and health are just as important. The Priority List includes roles and qualifications in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care, allied health assistance, health services assistance, mental health and nursing. These are areas where digital systems, telehealth, data platforms and AI supported administration will increasingly shape the work, even where the heart of the job remains deeply human.
So where is the common ground between the USA, Canada and Australia?
All three systems are trying to solve the same problem: how to build capability faster, more fairly and closer to where the work is happening. The USA is making AI more explicit inside Registered Apprenticeships. Canada is showing how digital apprenticeships can be used for inclusion and public sector workforce renewal. Australia has a mature industry aligned apprenticeship system, strong VET infrastructure and major national demand drivers through AUKUS, clean energy, care, construction, agriculture and digital transformation.
The points of difference matter too. The US model often moves through national intermediaries, workforce boards, community colleges and employer sponsors. Australia’s model is more structured through national Training Packages, apprenticeship support networks, TAFEs, RTOs, state skills systems and employer arrangements. Canada’s example shows a strong public sector and equity focused pathway into digital work.
The technical aspects are also shifting. Future apprenticeships will need to include layers of capability. First, common digital and AI literacy for all apprentices, including safe use of tools, data awareness, privacy, cybersecurity and critical thinking. Second, occupation specific AI and digital capability, such as using diagnostic systems in health, predictive maintenance in energy, digital twins in defence, or precision tools in agriculture. Third, specialist technical pathways in AI, software, cyber, data, cloud and automation.
A young person interested in defence might start through a technical college, a school based pathway, a fabrication apprenticeship, a software degree apprenticeship or a cyber traineeship. A career changer might move into cybersecurity through a paid apprenticeship model like those emerging in Maryland, Texas or Virginia. A regional student might enter agriculture through a Certificate III pathway and build capability in precision technology. A person wanting meaningful human centred work might choose health or care, while also building the digital skills now needed in modern service delivery.
The next step for Australia is not to copy the USA, but to learn from the visibility and urgency of its AI apprenticeship work. We already have the foundations – industry alignment, competency based training, VET in Schools, apprenticeships including school based, traineeships, TAFEs, RTOs, technical colleges and major workforce demand. What we need now is to make AI, cyber, data and digital transformation more explicit across apprenticeship pathways, not hidden in the background.
AUKUS, clean energy, agriculture, cyber, technology, care and health workforce demand will not be solved by recruitment campaigns alone. They need structured pathways, paid learning, mentoring, employer commitment and clear career maps.