Where to start with IT skills/future proofing skills?

[MrsFogi]

We are getting a lot of training in work about how the world is changing (APIs, AI, moving from Excel to Jupytr etc). Work is doing this so that we have a vague idea of what is going on - it is not relevant to any of our current day jobs and I do not see my job as being one that could be replaced with AI etc in the immediate future. That said I am finding it all both fascinating but also very frustrating. Frustrating because I realise how out of touch I am with technology since doing my GCSE Computer Studies decades ago (this mainly consisted of building databases and learning about the parts of a huge computer as far as I can recall!). I would really like to be come much more IT savvy both for general interest but also so that I can see opportunities out there (not necessarily to have a complete change of career but who knows given that if the retirement age keeps going back I still have several decades of work ahead of me).
However, I have absolutely no idea either where to start or what to focus on! Can anyone give me some insights both on where to start with perhaps starting to learn programming (which language to start with - go for simplicity or usefulness? any good online places to learn?), any areas that are clearly growing and/or lacking skilled people. And generally any insight at all.
Clearly I am clueless but I'm afraid I am one of those optimistic people who thinks they can learn anything with sufficient effort - a bit late to take up brain surgery but hopefully not to late to get up to date with technology.
Thanks .

Linkedin Learning has some really great courses. I'd look at things like Data Management and Cybersecurity maybe - interesting, topical and lucrative.

Learn to code robots. Uipath.com has free training and free robots to get you started. It's awesome stuff. I know the company well - it's the biggest and used in huge (and small) companies globally. There is a huge skills shortage so it's a really good thing to get into and will be useful to you in your personal life too.

@MrsFogi I think a lot depends on your personality and what you're interested in. pinbinpin has given a couple of good ideas, personally I'd hate to be doing CyberSecurity and find it boring, but I think you're a very process driven organised person it's perfect! If you're relatively artistic/interested in design then maybe web design, or if you're interested in making systems easier for people to use then UX (user experience). If you're looking to start a language then Python is a good option. I like EdX for courses, and they have all sorts of ones available under the "Computer Science" section.

I bought 'automate the boring stuff' on Python and a Udemy course that covers the same recently, I have the same ambitions as you OP!

For free stuff there's quite a lot of webinars, short training sessions and workshops on meetup.

It depends at what level you are interested/possibly aiming for in the future. I am running a big automation initiative, but it is about assessing opportunities, driving value and putting in a centre of excellence to run it. I don't know the tech (or need to) - this is basically outsourced to single source process automation suppliers who will do the development side using the tool that fits the user case. IMHO The key (and most desirable) skill here is really in process re-engineering and assessing value of changing/automating processes , not in the tech. The tech bit is the easy bit (they are called low code platforms for a reason :-)..)

If you are looking at tech skills which may be more valuable, I would point you in the direction of Salesforce. An ever expanding platform (they have just bought Slack), you can do admin courses for not too much money and there is a solid qualification/career path there which can potentially pay lot of cash.

Thanks so much for all the ideas and insight - a lot for me to think about!

If you fancy learning a language, Python is definitely the one to go for at the moment I'd say, as others have said.

Might be a bit out of left field but I have dabbled in a bit of QGIS (data mapping) and I've really enjoyed it because you get a physical thing at the end of it and colouring and presenting maps is quite fun. QGIS itself is free, open source, there's a big community around it. You can use Python with it as well (although I am not that advanced yet).