AI Makes Workforce Learning Unstoppable

Kathryn Casna

Friday, September 12th, 2025

The future of work isn’t coming. It’s already here.

AI has arrived—not as a back-office tool, but as a front-line collaborator reshaping how we work, think, and create. Business cycles are accelerating. Knowledge work is evolving. The biggest question for today’s leaders: Is your workforce ready?

The old playbook—static training, one-size-fits-all programs, disconnected learning—can’t keep pace. To stay ahead, organizations must move beyond content delivery to strategic skill development at scale.

As Siya Raj Purohit, Education Go-To-Market at OpenAI, said at LENS 2025, “When people could start talking to AI, when the interface became language, something fundamental shifted.” Communicating with AI in everyday language makes it accessible to your entire workforce.

This shift has cracked open an entirely new way of learning where people and AI co-create value in real time. The challenge now isn’t just technological, it’s talent-based.

The Shift Has Already Begun

We’re not approaching an AI moment—we’re in it. As language becomes the interface, AI becomes more than a tool. It becomes a partner that enhances human thinking, creativity, and decision-making. “AI isn’t just a tool,” Purohit said. “It’s a thinking partner that can help employees at all levels.”

And it’s already having real-world impact. According to a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), 60% of jobs will be reshaped by AI. And by 2030, 50-67% of workers will need reskilling, depending on their location.

And yet, there’s a gap between expectation and readiness. Our 2025 How the Workforce Learns GenAI report shows that 48% of professionals expect their responsibilities to change due to Gen AI, but only 22% feel very confident using it.

The confident few aren’t waiting. They’re automating tasks, generating insights, and making better decisions today.

So, while AI may be disruptive, the real challenge—and opportunity—is human. This is a talent problem, not a technology problem.

From Disruption to Opportunity

Despite the magnitude of AI-driven change, forward-looking organizations aren’t bracing for impact, they’re moving from reaction to transformation.

Purohit outlines four stages of AI transformation:

AI Literacy. Build foundational understanding for individual employees by encouraging everyday use. You should see boosts in efficiency, work quality, creativity, and innovation.
Custom Workflows. Equip teams with AI that fits their roles and supports team-level problems. Focus on automation, extensibility, and collaboration.
AI-Enhanced Operations. Create repeatable processes across the organization to drive productivity. Gain operational efficiency and cost savings.
AI-Infused Offerings. Innovate with AI at the core of your business to deliver AI-powered products and services. You’ll enhance your product value and customer engagement.

“Each of these steps builds momentum and maintenance impact,” Purohit said. “And as learning leaders, I think you all are in the best position to lead this transformation.”

The New Learning Playbook: From Literacy to Innovation

“What changed wasn’t just how advanced these models became, but how they could be used… to explore ideas, build skills, unlock creativity,” said Purohit. But to build an AI-ready workforce, you need more than AI tools. You need an AI-powered learning partner. Degreed Maestro helps you move from AI ambition into real outcomes, like everyday AI mastery, personalized learning at scale, learning aligned to business goals, and a workforce built for innovation.

1. AI Literacy from Daily AI-Powered Learning

When your workforce understands how to use AI, it can help them do their jobs better. Building AI fluency starts by embedding AI into daily development. Degreed Maestro makes this easy with:

Personalized, curated learning pathways adapted to roles and goals.
AI-powered coaching in the flow of work.

2. Custom AI Workflows Create Adaptive Workforce Learning Experiences at Scale

Once individual employees are using AI every day, Degreed Maestro can equip entire teams with AI tailored to their function and skill needs. That includes:

Role-plays help sales teams and other functions practice relevant conversations.
Coaching at scale for all leaders, not just senior leaders.

3. AI-Enhanced Operations Drive Smarter Skill Management

To scale transformation across your entire workforce, you need smarter processes, not just more content. Degreed Maestro turns L&D into a strategic engine for performance, agility, and growth by supporting:

Skill reviews that replace time-consuming manager evaluations with AI-guided assessments.
Data-driven insights that connect learning to skill gains and performance outcomes.

4. AI-Infused Offerings Come from Innovating With a Smarter Workforce

AI can support your organization in a multitude of ways, but to fully leverage its benefits, bake it into your products and services. Degreed Maestro can prepare your entire workforce to lead the change by:

Aligning learning with your business and talent strategies.
Accelerating readiness for new roles and setups through adaptive learning journeys.

Now’s the Time to Lead

“It’s on us as learning leaders to make sure our workplaces are ready,” Purohit said. “This is not about tools. It’s about building environments where people can grow, experiment, and hopefully do their life’s best work.”

The age of AI demands more than digital transformation. It calls for a workforce learning transformation that puts people at the center and empowers them to adapt, grow, and lead.

Reimagine learning not as a support function, but as a strategic enabler of workforce resilience and innovation. Learn more about how AI is changing learning in How the Workforce Learns Gen AI.