In 2026, L&D must embed AI into real workflows, redesign roles and focus on measurable outcomes, without sacrificing trust, culture and wellbeing. Drawing on views from leaders across HR, learning and analytics, TJ’s Editor Jo Cook explores three pressure points: human plus AI, adaptive learning, and business focus without overwhelm.
In 2026, L&D has to stop treating AI as a bolt-on project and start treating it as part of how work gets done and shows up in workflows. Will organisations redesign roles, learning, and leadership quickly enough to keep the human side intact, and to prove the investment is paying off?
That creates three pressure points you can feel in almost every organisation right now. First, the shift to human plus AI: people working alongside tools and agents, with real attention paid to connection, judgement, culture, and trust. Second, learning that adapts because AI can generate content at scale but it cannot guarantee coherence, quality, or transfer. Third, a sharper business focus: building capability that boosts outcomes and reduces friction, while avoiding grind culture dressed up as performance.
2026 will reward the teams who can balance speed with care, and experimentation with evidence, so learning keeps up with the work and stays grounded in what humans are for.
1) Human plus AI
We know that automation, AI and good platforms can make routine and admin much quicker and easier. If we are using more and more AI and agents, there is the balance of where the human element sits in the people profession. Ciara Harrington, Chief People Officer at Skillsoft forecasts: “It’s about making conscious choices to ensure employees continue to feel connected, supported, and valued. For example, while a bot might handle onboarding logistics or answer basic benefits questions, it’s the personal welcome, the culture-building conversations, and the ongoing support from HR business partners that truly shape the employee experience.”
Organisations that thoughtfully balance technology and humanity will stand out as employers of choice
Ciara Harrington
Ciara continued: “Moving forward, I believe organisations that thoughtfully balance technology and humanity will stand out as employers of choice. They’ll deliver operational excellence through automation, but also create a workplace where people feel seen and heard. Culture eats strategy for breakfast, after all. The future isn’t about choosing between tech and people; it’s about designing an employee journey where both works together to create lasting impact. Next year, and beyond, I believe the most successful HR teams will be those that embrace this evolution—combining our people-centric strengths with a deep understanding of technology and analytics to lead the business forward.”
Susie Lee, Chief Learning Officer at Degreed, agrees that successful companies in 2026 will be the ones that understand a simple truth: “The future is built on the synergy between people AND technology, not one at the expense of the other. 2026 will be the year companies operationalise AI-driven transformation. Expect intentional redesign of roles, workflows, and personalised, adaptive capability building to ensure humans are ready for change.”
The University of Salford’s Business School predicts of AI in the workplace: “Organisations will need employees to understand how to work alongside AI, assess its outputs and identify potential errors or shortcomings. Upskilling and reskilling will be central to ensuring AI complements human expertise rather than replacing it. AI literacy will expand beyond technical teams, with leaders, managers and frontline staff needing to understand AI’s limitations and risks, from data biases to regulatory compliance. These organisations that invest in workforce capability alongside technology are most likely to see the most meaningful gains.”
Karen Handley, Head of Future Careers at Virgin Media O2, focuses on recruitment: “Young people are looking for authenticity. They want recruitment experiences that feel human, not engineered. Strengths-based interviews and assessments that prompt natural responses, rather than rehearsed or AI-generated ones, will therefore play an even bigger role. They give employers clear insight into how candidates think, learn and adapt, which alongside their motivation, drive and attitude, is vital when selecting the right person for the right role.”
The Verosa Learning & Development Trends in 2026 report highlights that in 2026 leaders are expected to blend emotional intelligence with AI fluency to stay effective. Yet week after week the TJ Newsflash publishes reports and research into lack of AI curiosity and skills in the C-suite.
David Blake, CEO and Co-founder of Degreed suggests that agentic AI will be the new learning co-worker: “AI will move from generating content to taking real action, enrolling teams, triggering workflows, mapping skills needs to work, and automating nudges that drive behaviour change.”
Karie Willyerd, CLO in Residence at Skillable states that: “As AI increasingly handles lower-order cognitive tasks, learning strategies will lean heavily into human capabilities: analysis, evaluation, creativity, and systems thinking. CLOs in 2026 will succeed by grounding innovation in proven learning principles, using AI to scale personalisation and practice, and designing experiences that prioritise capability over content.”
2) Learning that adapts, sticks and is reusable
The Verosa report highlights that in 2026 learning will adapt to context; that organisations are choosing development that flexes with their pace, priorities and culture.
Anthony Olivier, MadCap Software founder and CEO states: “AI expectations have evolved from chat bots to full multimedia, multi-modal learning experiences that assist employees, customers and partners in more ways than ever. And in 2026, this will put a higher premium on reusable content than ever.”
Industry analyst Josh Bersin commented on the TJ podcast about AI re-creation: “It’s faster and more effective in building content. So that’s a cost part of the L&D function. But the bigger benefit to me is that the consumer experience of the employee or the manager or the worker trying to learn something. They can find what they need. They can get their questions answered more quickly. They can advance as fast or as much as they want.”
The sheer volume of content created by AI doesn’t solve many of the problems faced by enterprises
Anthony Olivier
Anthony continues: “AI is producing content better and faster than ever before. The sheer volume of content created by AI doesn’t solve many of the problems faced by enterprises seeking to avoid duplication and ensure that course materials and other L&D content is consistent, accurate and valid. This means experts will be needed to assemble existing content components or topics into different instructional vehicles and supporting resources—course materials, chat bots, webinars, podcasts, how-to guides, and policy manuals, to name a few. The good news is that many instructional designers and other L&D content creators already have the fundamental skills to become content curators. It’s more about making the cultural mind shift.”
The Verosa report also predicts organisations prioritising development that leads to sustained, measurable behavioural shifts. David Blake agrees, adding that transformation will get measured because “Companies will demand hard evidence that learning, skills, and AI investments are moving the needle. Expect diagnostics, benchmarks, maturity models, and ROI frameworks to become standard operating tools”.
3) Business focus without the overwhelm
Cathy Hoy, CEO of CLO100 affirms: “If you want to show the real value of L&D, you need to connect learning outcomes to business performance. For every priority skill, think about 1-3 business metrics that should improve as a result of your programs.
For instance:
- Better analytical thinking could lead to more accurate forecasts.
- Improved resilience and agility might speed up project timelines.
- Stronger leadership skills could reduce error rates or boost team engagement”
Cathy continues, referencing the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report about ‘Structural Economic Disruption’: “Yes, it sounds intimidating. But it’s also a huge opportunity for L&D leaders to step up and make a real difference. By focusing on the right skills, creating clear roadmaps, and linking learning to business results, you can help your organisation navigate the challenges ahead.”
Josh Bersin says that in his experience: “The CHROs who both shape their own destinies and move their companies’ needles always think in terms of:
- Boosting value creation
- Accelerating productivity
- Deepening capability
- Reducing organisational friction
- Never being seen as anything else than leading a function constantly racking up a stream of quantifiable, profit-oriented commercial outcomes”
In other words, says Josh, “they stop leading ‘HR’ and start leading how the organisation works.”
Amy Cappellanti-Wolf, Chief People Officer at Dayforce, suggests that 2026 will see HR leaders shifting from AI experimentation to rigorously measuring its tangible business outcomes. Dayforce’s Chief Digital Officer, Carrie Rasmussen, focusses on the critical partnership between HR and IT leaders in shaping how AI is embraced.
Nirit Peled-Muntz, Chief People Officer at HiBob comments: “In 2026, the world of work will finally move beyond measuring presence and hours. Success will be defined by outcomes. What people deliver, not how visible they are. As performance becomes about impact, the organisations that still rely on control and visibility will find it harder to attract and keep great people. The next generation of leaders will be defined by something different, their ability to create clarity, build genuine connection, and empower people to do their best work wherever they are.”
Nirit warns that: “The real risk for businesses isn’t that technology will move faster than they can – it’s that culture won’t. The organisations that lead in 2026 will design for autonomy, belonging, and fairness, proving that flexibility and high performance go hand in hand. Because in the future of work, trust and adaptability won’t just drive success, they’ll define it.”
meQuilibrium states that “grind culture has served exactly no one. Not people, not the bottom line.” meQ’s Winter 2026 State of the Workforce Report reinforces this: employees who believe in grind culture experience dramatically elevated burnout, roughly 50% higher than their peers. The report also shows 55% of people believe failing to constantly improve means falling behind. This is encouraging for 2026 performance—as long as continuous improvement isn’t just about upskilling, but includes mental health, wellness, and resilience.
As an example, in digital marketing, SEO Specialist Louis Riat-Bonello of Optisearch says he’s “seeing AI make SEO more predictive and paid campaigns more efficient. The businesses getting the best results aren’t blindly chasing automation. They’re using AI to support smarter decisions, move faster, and free up teams to focus on strategy and creativity. That balance is what will matter long after the hype fades”.
Focus, focus, focus
If you do one thing off the back of these predictions, make it this: pick a single business-critical workflow and redesign it end-to-end, with learning built into the flow and clear measures of success. Agree what “good” looks like, set simple guardrails for AI use, and give people space to practise and improve in real conditions. Then share what you learn, fix what doesn’t work, and scale what does. 2026 will not reward perfect plans, it will reward momentum with intent.
Jo Cook is Editor of Training Journal, and learning and development specialist at her company Lightbulb Moment
