L&D Priorities in 2026: How Learning Leaders Can Stay Ahead of Change
With AI, the world of work is transforming at a record speed. By 2026, AI-driven disruption, hybrid workforces, and constant skill reinvention will be reshaping how organizations operate and learn.
What employees learn today may become outdated within just two years as technology and job demands rapidly evolve. This pace of change makes L&D Priorities in 2026 more critical than ever. Learning leaders need to shift from just managing training programs to architecting continuous capability ecosystems that directly influence performance, agility, and innovation.
“The days of being an admin gatekeeper and creating content are over. They ended about a year and a half ago as AI gained speed. The question now is how L&D leaders can make sense of what's going on and bring immediate bottom-line impact to their organization with the shift to AI? Especially, if 95% of people aren't achieving the results despite AI investments. If you are an L&D leader, or if you're an HR leader, you need to be focused on 'Aim Small, Miss Small" instead of trying to transform everything at once.”
- Mike Dixon, President and COO, Hoops HR
“Traditional learning methods may not work anymore, so you almost need a new learning culture. But how do you facilitate learning? As an L&D leader, you've got to think about how to first scale, and once you scale, how to develop the soft skills such as collaboration, problem-solving, etc. It's a huge challenge that would give us sleepless nights.”
- Avinash Lele, President, Harbinger Group
“First and foremost a lot of the large enterprise mandates are devoid of CLO intervention. Usually, L&D is considered as an afterthought. Treating L&D as a strategic infrastructure for transformation is entirely missing in most organizations.”
- Sarthak Brahma, Founder and CEO, HEX Advisory Group
- Mike Dixon, President and COO, Hoops HR
- Avinash Lele, President, Harbinger Group
- Sarthak Brahma, Founder and CEO, HEX Advisory Group
As these shifts continue to redefine the L&D landscape, insights from global industry leaders are shaping how organizations adapt and evolve. The conversation around aligning AI, strategy, and culture has never been more crucial for building agile, future-ready workforces.
During a recent Power Hour hosted by Avinash Lele, President at Harbinger Group, the industry experts Mike Dixon (President and COO, Hoops HR) and Sarthak Brahma (Founder and CEO, HEX Advisory Group) shared their perspectives on how learning leaders can navigate this transformation. Their insights form a strong foundation for understanding where L&D is headed in 2026 and beyond. Watch the complete session for expert perspectives and actionable takeaways:
The Great Acceleration: How AI and Technology Are Redefining Learning
AI has moved from hype to habit, transforming every corner of workplace learning. The Impact of AI on Learning and Development is visible in how organizations now build, personalize, and measure learning experiences. From automated course creation to skill inference and recommendation engines, AI has become an essential enabler of learning transformation.
94% of learning leaders view digital learning as central to their L&D strategy as per Elucidat’s State of Digital Learning Report 2025.
However, as powerful as AI may be, it should remain a co-pilot, not the pilot. L&D teams must combine machine intelligence with human oversight to ensure learning stays ethical, empathetic, and contextually relevant.
From Courses to Capabilities: The Evolution of Modern Learning Operating Models
The traditional course-centric model is no longer sufficient. The next frontier lies in modern learning operating models that are agile, data-driven, and embedded into the flow of work. It is estimated that future-ready learning systems will focus on:
- Learning in the flow of work- delivering just-in-time support where productivity happens.
- AI-assisted personalization- adapting to learner roles, needs, and performance data.
- Microlearning and continuous reinforcement- replacing long training cycles with bite-sized, iterative development.
- Data-driven decision-making- aligning every learning initiative with measurable business metrics.
Building Skills That Stick: The Shift to Continuous, AI-Enabled Workforce Reskilling
Skills are the new currency of competitiveness. The rise of automation, AI, and new business models has forced organizations to focus on AI-enabled workforce reskilling at an unprecedented scale. In practice, this means:
- Mapping critical roles to emerging skill needs.
- Using predictive analytics to anticipate gaps before they impact performance.
- Deploying AI-powered systems that recommend hyper-relevant learning resources to each employee.
This continuous model of capability building focuses on practical, role-specific competencies rather than large, abstract frameworks. It’s a pragmatic step toward agility in an era where business and technology evolve together.
Aligning Learning with Strategy: From Activity to Business Outcomes
Despite corporate training spending surpassing $102.8 billion globally (Training Industry Report, 2025), many organizations still struggle to link learning outcomes with business value. The challenge for L&D isn’t just accessing technology but proving its impact. Implementing learning and development strategies smartly is what drives real success.
That’s why many leading companies are adopting a “Design Backwards” approach: start with the business outcomes, define the metrics that matter, and then build learning programs around those KPIs. Key outcome-based metrics include:
- Reduction in time-to-competency
- Improved internal mobility rates
- Measurable performance uplift
- Enhanced employee retention
Collaboration at the Core: Uniting CIO, CHRO, and CLO Agendas
In 2026, effective learning will depend heavily on CIO–CHRO–CLO Collaboration. The next wave of organizational learning requires joint ownership across technology, talent, and business functions.
IT leaders provide digital infrastructure and analytics, HR leaders drive culture and talent strategy, and L&D leaders curate the experiences that connect both. This alignment transforms L&D from a functional department into a cross-enterprise growth engine.
The Cultural Imperative: Embedding Continuous Learning and Purpose
Creating advanced L&D and content solutions for your teams is only half the battle. Having a truly strategic learning culture is equally important. As of now, only a small fraction of organizations has a truly strategic learning culture.
“The days of being an admin gatekeeper and creating content are over. They ended about a year and a half ago as AI gained speed. The question now is how L&D leaders can make sense of what's going on and bring immediate bottom-line impact to their organization with the shift to AI? Especially, if 95% of people aren't achieving the results despite AI investments. If you are an L&D leader, or if you're an HR leader, you need to be focused on 'Aim Small, Miss Small" instead of trying to transform everything at once.”
- Mike Dixon, President and COO, Hoops HR
“Traditional learning methods may not work anymore, so you almost need a new learning culture. But how do you facilitate learning? As an L&D leader, you've got to think about how to first scale, and once you scale, how to develop the soft skills such as collaboration, problem-solving, etc. It's a huge challenge that would give us sleepless nights.”
- Avinash Lele, President, Harbinger Group
“First and foremost a lot of the large enterprise mandates are devoid of CLO intervention. Usually, L&D is considered as an afterthought. Treating L&D as a strategic infrastructure for transformation is entirely missing in most organizations.”
- Sarthak Brahma, Founder and CEO, HEX Advisory Group
- Mike Dixon, President and COO, Hoops HR
- Avinash Lele, President, Harbinger Group
- Sarthak Brahma, Founder and CEO, HEX Advisory Group
To build that culture, organizations must create time, recognition, and psychological safety for employees to learn. Microlearning, peer networks, and community-led platforms play a major role in creating this engagement. The most effective learning ecosystems should be so embedded in daily work that people learn without realizing it.
This cultural shift is about moving from compliance-based learning to curiosity-driven growth, where employees are motivated by relevance and purpose, not mandates. When that happens, learning becomes self-sustaining.
Measuring What Matters: Defining Success in the Age of AI and Agility
A lack of proper analytics continues to limit L&D’s ability to prove its value. To overcome this, several organizations are implementing learning intelligence systems that integrate L&D data with HR, performance, and business metrics.
Predictive analytics can now identify skill gaps before they hinder productivity, enabling proactive interventions. Because AI adoption in L&D isn’t just about smarter content but also about using data to predict talent gaps before they become crises. This approach allows learning teams to measure agility, retention, innovation, and customer satisfaction, all leading indicators of long-term business health. This also helps align learning initiatives with business objectives and measure L&D investment performance.
Our Agentic AI Studio creates customized AI solutions for global clients for solving real L&D challenges. See how it works:
L&D Leadership Redefined: Essential Capabilities of Learning Leaders
“The days of being an admin gatekeeper and creating content are over. They ended about a year and a half ago as AI gained speed. The question now is how L&D leaders can make sense of what's going on and bring immediate bottom-line impact to their organization with the shift to AI? Especially, if 95% of people aren't achieving the results despite AI investments. If you are an L&D leader, or if you're an HR leader, you need to be focused on 'Aim Small, Miss Small" instead of trying to transform everything at once.”
- Mike Dixon, President and COO, Hoops HR
“Traditional learning methods may not work anymore, so you almost need a new learning culture. But how do you facilitate learning? As an L&D leader, you've got to think about how to first scale, and once you scale, how to develop the soft skills such as collaboration, problem-solving, etc. It's a huge challenge that would give us sleepless nights.”
- Avinash Lele, President, Harbinger Group
“First and foremost a lot of the large enterprise mandates are devoid of CLO intervention. Usually, L&D is considered as an afterthought. Treating L&D as a strategic infrastructure for transformation is entirely missing in most organizations.”
- Sarthak Brahma, Founder and CEO, HEX Advisory Group
- Mike Dixon, President and COO, Hoops HR
- Avinash Lele, President, Harbinger Group
- Sarthak Brahma, Founder and CEO, HEX Advisory Group
As L&D evolves, so does the learning leader’s role. To move from afterthought to strategic infrastructure, learning leaders must develop new capabilities that position their L&D initiatives at the center of organizational transformation. Tomorrow’s CLOs and L&D strategists need to embody a fresh new blend of competencies:
- Data literacy and AI fluency to interpret insights and align them with workforce planning.
- Storytelling and strategic influence to connect learning narratives to business outcomes.
- Empathy and change management to guide people through transformation.
Conclusion
As we look ahead, L&D Priorities in 2026 are not just about checking training boxes, but mainly about enabling transformation at the speed of business. It’s about capability creation, powered by intelligence and empathy. The next era of learning will be defined by how seamlessly technology, data, and human insight come together to shape adaptive organizations.
Want to modernize your L&D strategy for 2026? Connect with our team to discuss how AI-powered learning can transform your workforce capabilities and drive measurable business outcomes. Schedule a consultation call to transform your workforce capabilities for 2026 or drop a mail at: contact@harbingergroup.com.
