AI is now every enterprise’s top workforce priority. Almost none are ready to deliver on it.
edX partnered with leading research firm NewtonX on a new global survey of over 500 CHROs (Chief Human Resources Officers), CLOs (Chief Learning Officers), and L&D (Learning and Development) leaders, showing a widening gap between how urgently companies want AI capability and how prepared their learning functions are to build it.1
Key insights:
- 83% of CHROs, CLOs, and L&D leaders say AI is their #1 workforce capability priority
- 29% report having built mature AI capabilities within their organization
- 74% are not highly confident their L&D function can deliver what their workforce actually needs
The most revealing finding isn’t the top-line priority number, it’s what happens when you cross it with actual readiness. Only 15% of respondents are considered AI transformation leaders: highly confident in their learning function’s ability to deliver on upskilling goals and highly mature2 in their AI capabilities, meaning AI is already a core organizational competency or is at least embedded in each role and linked to the business strategy.
What we’ll cover next
This is the first in a four-part series unpacking the full report. Each installment digs into a different layer of the maturity gap.
- How has AI changed workforce capability priorities?
- Who owns AI upskilling, and does it matter?
- How do the best learning leaders build AI capabilities?
You can now download the report here
NewtonX / edX, The State of Enterprise Learning 2026
Footnotes:
- Survey of 500+ CHROs, CLOs, and L&D leaders, fielded in 2026 by NewtonX on behalf of edX. ↩︎
- “Highly mature” is defined in the report as an organization where AI is embedded in individual role expectations and explicitly tied to business strategy, rather than delivered as standalone or optional training. ↩︎