Organisations are increasingly implementing AI in their operations, but many are failing to provide employees with the training and development opportunities needed to keep pace, according to The Learnovate Centre’s annual Learning Signals Survey 2026 which found that almost half of Irish organisations (48%) are failing to proactively address skills gaps.
However, the number actively using the technology in their everyday operations rose to 28%, a 5% increase on the previous year.
Learnovate has warned that continuing to deploy AI without a parallel effort to increase access to learning and development could be detrimental to organisations’ efforts to successfully implement AI – a failing which could have consequences for the wider economy.
The Learnovate Learning Signals Survey is an annual poll of professionals in education, learning technology, business and other sectors. Some 225 professionals took part in this year’s survey.
The survey found that of the Irish organisations that were failing to proactively address skills gaps in their workforce, one in four (24%) were responding reactively based on short-term need, one in six (15%) recognised their gaps but lack direction to address them, and less than one in 10 (9%) did not view skills development as strategically important.
Just one in four (25%) reported that their organisation had a regularly updated, forward-looking skills strategy, while another one in four (25%) said their organisation was in the process of developing a strategy and experimenting with future-focused skills initiatives.
According to the research, time and resource constraints were listed as key barriers, with three quarters (74%) of respondents naming it among their top three barriers to learning and development.
The study also found that 60% of organisations were prioritising competing operational demands over learning and development. Respondents overwhelmingly reported this as the single biggest barrier to learning, followed by change fatigue (16%), and a failure by leadership to value learning (7%).
The Learning Signals Survey 2026 has revealed a significant shift in priorities across learning and development in Ireland.
In 2023, respondents ranked engaging learners as their biggest challenge. This year, managing technology and digital transformation is the most cited challenge (55%), while engaging learners (40%) has dropped to fourth behind budget and resource constraints (48%) and addressing skills gaps (43%).
Nessa McEniff, managing director of The Learnovate Centre, said: “The Learnovate Learning Signals Survey 2026 shows that almost half of organisations are not proactively addressing skills gaps, while time and competing operational demands are continuing to squeeze learning and development. If organisations want to realise the potential of AI, they need to make workforce development part of their AI strategy. Failure to do so carries risks for the organisation, their individual AI implementation projects, and the wider economy as the efficiency benefits of AI risk not being reflected in companies’ bottom line.
“AI adoption is accelerating, but the survey shows that organisations are not treating skills development as a priority. To maximise the potential of any technology, organisations must have skilled and confident people to use it effectively.”
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