AI is expanding what work is possible faster than people can learn.
I call it the Age of Intensification. AI is raising the expectations faster than companies are building their people’s ability to meet them.
Deloitte found that 85% of leaders call the ability to adapt at this speed critical to their organization’s future. But only 7% say they’re actually good at it. If you want to know why AI investments aren’t delivering, that gap is where to start.
Businesses cannot outrun this change. But, people can outlearn it.
People Are Stuck in the Impact Zone
The average employee now sits through five times more change programs in a year than they did a decade ago, according to McKinsey. Traditional learning was designed for that previously slower pace.
The time needed to absorb these transformations is no longer a luxury that businesses can afford. Adaptability is a core part of every job, but no one’s workforce (or learning system) seems prepared for it.
Employees are stuck in the change impact zone trying to catch their breath and traditional learning isn’t meeting the demand to rescue them.
Legacy Work and Learning Systems Weren’t Built for This Much Change
Most businesses are using traditional change management and learning systems that were never designed for this unprecedented rate of change. Assuming more learning content can fix this problem is an old way of thinking.
Hand-curated learning content is usually outdated before it’s even released. Even traditional learning activity data like completions or hours spent is no longer sufficient evidence in the boardroom for AI workforce transformation. Execs need proof and the burden of that falls to L&D, talent, and HR leaders.
The content needs to personalize and adapt on cue, before it’s needed. New data metrics that directly prove readiness and business outcomes need to be surfaced. The old systems cannot do that.
We need to reimagine learning entirely, with AI at the center.
Discover What AI-Centered Learning Looks Like
Workforce learning won’t fit in the same box it’s sat comfortably in for the last decade. AI learning experiences and AI learning intelligence will be the pillars for the future of workforce upskilling.
AI roleplays can make practice realistic and accessible.
AI-driven skill intelligence can put real numbers to skill readiness, competence, and growth over time.
AI coaching can democratize feedback and save expert time for the most high-impact areas.
AI agents can uncover where development is needed and take steps to upskill the individual before a manager ever has to get involved.
With AI, readiness can be measured directly and learning can be tied to already-existing and high-value business metrics like revenue generation and time-to-productivity.
The next shift is AI agents noticing that opportunity in advance: catching where someone’s stuck before they ask for help or seeing a meeting on the calendar and prompting practice accordingly, then building the next rep without waiting on anyone to design it.
It’s proactive personalization the old system of learning could never have accounted for.
Imagination Is Now the Only Limit on Learning
The technology to build targeted learning this fast already exists.
I can’t say what the next decade of learning will entail, but AI has opened the door for a future we could barely have imagined a decade ago.
What I can say is that AI agents are the next wave of learning.
Imagine agents that automatically maintain your content catalogue. Or agents that give admins a rolled-up view of AI transformation across the workforce and push progress reports to managers through Slack or Teams. Learning admin wouldn’t just be proactive, but automated.
Skills could be built before the business needs them.
Unimaginable a decade ago, but reality today.
See these AI agents and this future unfolding at Degreed Vision 2026, with real-world examples from Phillips 66, expert insights from Marsh (formerly Mercer), a sneak peek at Degreed’s own AI Labs, and an exploration of new and upcoming Degreed AI agents.
That’s how we’ll help the world outlearn change.
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