What skills do employees need in a changing workplace where AI is driving ever-faster change? And how must corporate learning evolve so that companies can keep pace with these changes?
That’s exactly what we discussed with HR and learning leaders on August 27 at 3spin Learning’s Leadership Exchange Forum (LEF) in Hamburg. This exclusive forum is designed for HR executives to exchange ideas. This time, the focus was on the impact of Artificial Intelligence on learning, skills, and talent development.
Anja Sbanski, Partner, Workforce Transformation, Leadership & Learning & Culture at PwC, provided important insights, including a key takeaway from the evening: AI isn’t just changing the skills we need, it’s also changing how and when we need to learn them. Here are the most important takeaways.
Here's one of the LEF's numbers that really highlights just how significant the change already is:
2,2x
skill requirements are changing more rapidly in occupations that are heavily exposed to AI. (PwC Global AI Jobs Barometer 2026)
Once defined, a skills model is becoming less and less sufficient. Job profiles, tasks, and the skills required for them are constantly evolving. As a result, the traditional concept of continuing education has become more challenging. Training cannot wait until a skills gap has already become apparent.
Companies need learning programs that can adapt more quickly to new requirements. The focus is thus shifting from fixed skill sets to adaptive skills.
Employees must do more than just master specific competencies. They must increasingly be able to learn new things, apply existing knowledge to new situations, and continuously develop their skills.
A seemingly paradoxical development became particularly evident at LEF:
2,5x
more often, new tasks require human skills. (PwC Global AI Jobs Barometer 2026)
So AI expertise alone is not enough. As AI processes more and more information, generates content, and automates tasks, skills that are closely tied to human interaction are becoming increasingly important. These include, for example:
Companies must therefore take a holistic approach to developing both technological and human competencies. They must ask themselves what human skills employees need to succeed in a work environment shaped by AI.
The fact that companies have recognized this challenge is illustrated by another impulse figure:
85%
employers prioritize upskilling their workforce. (World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report 2025)
Companies should therefore ask themselves how upskilling can be implemented effectively and at scale. Traditional training programs quickly reach their limits in this regard. When requirements are constantly changing, one-off training sessions or seminars held at longer intervals are no longer sufficient.
Corporate learning must align more closely with employees’ actual roles, challenges, and work situations. And this is precisely where AI opens up new possibilities.
The second major shift concerns how learning opportunities are designed. Traditionally, larger groups of employees often receive the same training program. However, a new manager has different development needs than an experienced manager. A sales representative needs different communication skills than someone in customer service. AI is driving a greater shift away from standardized programs toward competency- and role-based learning paths.
Learning content can be tailored more closely to an individual’s role, the skills they need to develop, and their specific development needs. At the same time, learning can become more interactive. Instead of merely consuming content, employees can role-play scenarios, make decisions, formulate responses, and receive feedback on their behavior.
This is particularly crucial for soft skills. After all, knowing how a good feedback conversation works in theory is quite different from actually sitting across from an upset employee and responding appropriately.
The third change concerns timing. Until now, many professional development programs have been one-off events: a workshop, a seminar, e-learning, and that’s it.
However, the world of work is constantly changing. Corporate learning must therefore also become more continuous, shifting from isolated learning moments to a steady learning process integrated into everyday work.
This does not mean that workshops or in-person training will disappear. Rather, they can be supplemented by smaller, recurring opportunities for learning and practice. For example, employees can practice a specific conversation scenario before an important meeting, receive feedback afterward, and then practice a similar situation again later.
This brings learning closer to the “moment of need.”
You can derive three key changes for corporate learning by looking at the discussions at the LEF:
|
WHAT we learn |
HOW we learn |
WHEN we learn |
|
From fixed skill profiles to adaptive skills and a combination of AI expertise and human capabilities. |
From standardized training to customized, interactive, and role-based learning experiences. |
From one-time training sessions to continuous learning in our day-to-day work. |
This will also change the role of Learning & Development, making training less of a priority. L&D must create a learning environment in which employees can continuously develop, apply, reflect on, and try out their skills.
This is exactly where AI-powered soft skills training gets interesting. You'll have limited success developing soft skills through videos, presentations, or traditional e-learning courses. If you want to conduct difficult employee conversations, handle objections in sales, or give constructive feedback, you need to practice these situations hands-on.
At 3spin Learning, we therefore enable companies to train soft skills using AI-powered conversation simulations and role-playing exercises. Employees can run through realistic conversation scenarios with AI avatars, such as:
One of the most exciting insights from the LEF in Hamburg was therefore an unexpected counter-trend. The more AI transforms our work, the more important human skills become.
At the same time, AI gives us new opportunities to develop precisely these skills in a more personalized, interactive, and continuous way. Corporate learning of the future will therefore not take place solely in the classroom or through e-learning. It will become an ongoing part of work. And that’s exactly where we at 3spin Learning support companies with AI-powered soft skills training and realistic AI role-playing exercises.