Why L&D Is the Key To Winning the AI Skills Race

Building AI skills and knowledge is an urgent problem for many organizations. The L&D team is the strategic key to solving it.

It’s 2025 — do you know where your team’s AI skills are? This isn’t a public service announcement; it’s one of the core questions keeping many CEOs up at night. For the past few years, leaders have been under intense pressure to win the AI race however they can: incorporating artificial intelligence tools into their products, their processes, and, yes, the skills they expect from their teams. Strategic L&D is the key to building these skills, but many teams are still grappling with what that means — and how to put it into action. 

Executive pressure is on to use AI effectively

There’s no question that AI is now omnipresent in discussions about how we work. From the implementation of agentic AI (systems able to carry out tasks semi-autonomously, like the AI customer support chatbots available on many websites), to AI summary and note-taking tools, to the use of generative AI like ChatGPT for content generation and ideation, adoption of AI-powered applications is both widespread and rapidly evolving.

But there’s a serious shortfall between how leaders view AI and how equipped their employees feel to put it into action. A study conducted by Slack in summer of 2024 found 96% of executives urgently want to put AI tools into action within their organizations. 35% intend to make use of AI “in the next 18 months” — a whopping 7x increase over the previous year. However, the same study found that only 7% of employees consider themselves to be expert AI users, though over 75% feel pressure to ramp up their AI knowledge and skills.

Closing the AI knowledge gap between executives and employees

Why the gap? LinkedIn’s 2024 Workplace Learning Report identified AI as a major theme, emphasizing the importance of skill agility — “harnessing the right skills at the right time for the right work.” Many people — from executives to early career individual contributors — simply aren’t sure which AI skills are the right skills. 

Reporting from WorkLife indicates that many people hold a false belief that the most important AI skills are hard, technical skills. This might be true for people already in technical roles. But for many employees, AI upskilling is more a matter of understanding the AI tools available and applying soft skills they already have — like creativity, problem-solving, and communication — to use them effectively. This may also be an indication of “technostress,” a term coined by the psychotherapist Craig Brod in the mid-1980s to describe overwhelm centered on the introduction of new technologies. 

How L&D can help organizations put AI skills and tools into action

Organizations that have a mature learning and development function are very well-positioned to overcome the AI skills gap. The most innovative organizations are already investing more deeply in L&D budgets. Some 9 in 10 executives plan to grow or maintain their investment in learning in the year ahead. L&D functions have many ways to support AI upskilling, including: 

  • AI tool and landscape literacy: Teaching employees what tools are available and familiarizing them with how to apply different generative AI technologies to different kinds of work problems, from financial modeling to content development.  
  • Copiloting and prompting: Helping employees build the habit of using AI tools as “copilot” resources in their day-to-day work and teaching them how to effectively direct an AI tool to accomplish a task. 
  • Domain-specific training: Supporting people in more technical roles as they begin to build on AI frameworks and tools. This might range from low- and no-code engineering and design work all the way to deep practitioner training on AI model development. 
  • Ongoing training in strategy, communication, and other so-called soft skills: As with all new learning, the fundamental problem-solving skills taught by all L&D functions are crucial for overcoming the AI skills gap. 

The L&D function has an opportunity to experiment with AI best practices

In many cases, L&D practitioners also have a unique opportunity to learn alongside their learner populations, leveraging AI tools to support high-investment learning strategies that they might have previously struggled to scale. With generative AI, L&D functions have new opportunities to quickly and efficiently build personalized learning and give more employees access to 1-1 coaching and other learning opportunities once reserved for executive training. 

Organizations that turn to L&D as a core part of their AI strategy have much to gain. The LinkedIn Learning report found that access to learning opportunities around emerging technologies is a top predictor of long-term employee retention. Research from Skillsoft finds that 62% of employees are dissatisfied with their AI upskilling opportunities. That’s a major opportunity to boost confidence, productivity, and organizational effectiveness by implementing more AI learning programs. 

How to kickstart AI upskilling right now

Many organizations are still at the beginning of this upskilling process. Here are few steps to get started.

  • Seek ongoing feedback from your team. Every team has different needs and challenges and these questions will continue to evolve. When planning trainings, connect with the team and investigate what topics will be most important to highlight. Where are people potentially struggling? What are teammates most eager to learn about AI?Upon completion of trainings, check-in about how people are feeling. These points of connection can be administered a number of ways, such as Donut polls sent via Slack or synchronous conversations. Collect metrics around feedback to reference and share as needed.
  • Address AI anxiety. EY found that many workers report feelings of anxiety about AI. Survey participants raised concerns around responsible use, speed of adoption, and lack of regulation. Respondents cited best practices around responsible AI use and more AI training opportunities as top ways to address these worries.
  • Offer multiple paths for learning. Slack’s Fall research found 70% of employees want a mix of both employee-led and employer-led training. Skillsoft found many employees are eager for experiential and live, instructor-led training.

For self-directed learning, provide guides such as relevant articles and documentation to make information accessible. Remove ambiguity around things like permission to use AI by providing clear best practices and documentation.

Ready to start scaling your essential AI learning programs?

When organizations embrace L&D as an important engine for AI skills transformation, good things follow. Open the door to more effective collaboration,  avoid the hidden costs associated with lack of learning investment, and set your team up for improved retention, higher productivity, and better business outcomes. Investing in AI skill-building is an important first step for setting organizations up for success in the AI era. 

Start upskilling your team today

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