‘Bringing digital confidence to the community that raised me’

Microsoft UK’s ‘Beyond the Badge’ series spotlights extraordinary people within Microsoft who go beyond the day job and give something back to their communities. This week we feature Kwadwo Benko and his ambition to skill 100,000 Black people in Copilot and AI skills.

The UK Government recently launched AI Skills Boost to skill up 10 million people by 2030. As a founding partner in this, Microsoft is playing a key role and has already skilled 1.5 million people in the past year alone. With such an ambitious target ahead, people with a desire to change the communities around them for the better will be crucial. People like Kwadwo Benko, Copilot Solution Engineer, Microsoft UK.

Kwadwo – known as Kojo – is on a mission to skill 100,000 Black people in Copilot and AI skills, and he’s already started.

When he stepped into South East London Community Seventh-day Adventist Church, he wasn’t doing so as a congregant or a familiar face from childhood. He was returning as a teacher, a technologist, and a community advocate to the church that helped shape him, and the one his late parents devoted so much of their lives to.

All he brought with him was a laptop, Microsoft Copilot, and a belief that digital confidence could change lives for the better.

“Digital empowerment is independence,” he says. “When people have skills, they have options. Tech shouldn’t be a privilege for a few; it should lift whole communities.”

Keeping it real

The workshop Kojo led was intentionally simple at first: a grounding in what AI is and, importantly, what it isn’t.

The room was filled with Ghanaian immigrants, students, and working parents, many with access to Copilot through their employers, but little idea of how to use it in their daily lives. So, he tailored everything to the realities they shared: late-night emails, busy family schedules, exam pressure, and the constant challenge of staying organised.

“I wanted them to see that tech isn’t something ‘over there’ for other people,” he says. “It’s for them.”

But it quickly expanded into everyday scenarios the group immediately recognised: planning, writing clearly, managing time, preparing for interviews, revising for exams. He broke down the differences between Copilot and other AI tools, introduced responsible use, and taught a repeatable prompt structure designed for beginners.

Then came the moment he says changed the room’s energy: a live challenge where groups used Copilot to research a Bible topic and present their findings to the congregation.

Within minutes, people who’d never used AI were debating prompts and peppering him with practical questions, such as “How do I use this without making mistakes?”; “Can it help me with studying and exams?”; “How do I know when it’s giving the wrong information?”

“They weren’t chasing hype,” he recalls. “They were chasing clarity and capability. And Copilot helped unlock that.”

The fact that each demo was grounded in lived experience helped build confidence, he says.

Paying it forward

Growing up, Kojo says he navigated technology largely on his own.

He’d long recognised that many members of his church family were carrying avoidable stress from activities like drafting emails, preparing presentations, studying and managing their time, and that they were carrying it all without the support that modern tools can offer.

To return to his childhood church and deliver something practical was a profound and uplifting experience, he says.

“It felt like a full-circle moment. The opportunity gave me a sense of purpose, gratitude, and a chance to honour what my parents built within the community.

“I hope they went away feeling less intimidated by AI, and more capable at work, in school, and in daily life.”

He encouraged them to use Copilot every day and build confidence through small, steady wins.

“Real progress isn’t dramatic,” he says. “It’s consistent. It’s empowering. And it’s achievable.”

The next chapters

Kojo wants to extend these community workshops to other churches, community groups, schools, and small businesses across the UK, on his mission to give AI skills to 100,00 Black people.

He plans to focus on themes such as Copilot for Work, Copilot for Students, Church Admin & Ministry, and to offer practical hands‑on clinics whereby community members bring real tasks to tackle there and then.

“AI isn’t the future,” he says. “It’s the right now. And communities like mine deserve to lead, not be left behind,” he concludes.

Feeling inspired?

Kojo would love other Microsoft employees to go ‘Beyond the Badge’ and share their AI skills more widely. He offers these top tips:

• Start with plain language
• Teach a small number of prompts that work instantly
• Include one live challenge
• Keep it warm, safe, and human

MORE FROM ‘BEYOND THE BADGE’

From the pitch to the boardroom: Brittany Saylor’s inspiring journey

Building community, one act of giving at a time

A thousand bikes and countless smiles: Delivering Christmas cheer with the Microsoft UK Bike Club