Learning and development teams are facing growing expectations from senior executives and boards as artificial intelligence reshapes work. Gartner identifies four priorities for L&D leaders heading into 2027: build repeatable reskilling systems, protect organizational knowledge, use AI coaching carefully and train employees to scrutinize AI-generated work.
The shift is being driven by demand for faster upskilling and reskilling, a need for AI literacy across organizations and within L&D, and pressure to control costs and improve efficiency. At the Gartner HR Symposium/Xpo on Oct. 26, Rebecca Burton, a senior principal analyst in the firm’s HR practice, said demand for L&D is increasingly coming from senior leadership. Gartner polling found that training, particularly in AI-related skills, and employee redeployment featured among the top five actions board directors want CHROs to take in response to AI.
Burton said L&D teams should move beyond delivering courses and help organizations manage ongoing changes to jobs, skills and ways of working. Gartner research estimates that the number of skills needed for an individual job is rising by about 5% a year, while a third of skills required in 2025 may no longer be needed by 2030. The firm also estimates that 32 million jobs may need to be redesigned annually through 2031.
For L&D, that means creating a repeatable reskilling process rather than relying on disconnected programs. Burton also urged employers to make job changes visible to employees and help them assess their skills, so workers can prepare for new requirements.
A second priority is preventing the loss of critical knowledge. Retirements and layoffs associated with automation can leave organizations losing expertise faster than they transfer it. Burton said companies need to do more than document what employees know: they should establish ways to connect and use that knowledge across people and tools. Approaches can include mentoring, job rotations, informal knowledge-sharing and knowledge management platforms.
AI coaching is another potential way to expand employee development, particularly for managers who are already stretched. Gartner predicts that 40% of employees will first receive training and coaching from AI when starting a new role by 2028, compared with less than 5% currently. The firm also found that 38% of HR leaders are piloting or using AI coaches for leadership development.
Burton cautioned that AI tools should support, rather than displace, meaningful interactions between managers and employees. Poorly assessed data risks or AI bias could undermine trust, while relying too heavily on automated coaching could weaken managers’ own coaching and critical-thinking skills. A blended model, in which people provide support around AI tools, can help address those risks.
Finally, L&D should help employees avoid what Gartner calls “cognitive surrender”: relying on AI to make judgments without thinking critically or checking its output. Training exercises can ask employees to investigate AI-generated responses, verify claims against primary sources and look for issues such as fabricated citations, missing caveats or false premises. Burton recommended treating AI outputs as untrusted until they have been validated.
Sources: HR Dive.