AI in Learning and Development (2026)

By Amy Vidor
Learning and Development Evangelist at Synthesia

Create engaging training videos in 160+ languages.

In a 2025 survey, nearly 1 in 3 leaders admitted they couldn't connect their L&D investments to their company's revenue or profit margin.

That's a problem, and AI is only exacerbating it.

Today, it's much harder to make the case to invest in middle management, especially when you have companies trying to flatten their hierarchies, or replacing managers entirely with AI. But it’s also an opportunity to reconsider if your management training was really working.

If that’s causing you an existential crisis about your job description, you’re not alone. AI is raising the stakes for how we measure impact and prove our value to the business.

How is AI used in training and development?

87% of L&D professionals are already using AI according to our 2026 report. Here are four trends I'm seeing in how L&D teams are using AI.

1. Speeding up content production

84% of L&D teams are using AI to speed up their content production. That includes tasks like drafting content and quizzes (60%), generating narration (63%), creating videos (52%), and localizing materials (38%).

2. Implementing adaptive learning paths

33% of L&D teams are planning to implement personalized learning pathways in the next 12 to 18 months.

3. Delivering training in the flow of work

40% of teams are already using AI search and knowledge assistants to deliver on this.

4. Predicting skill gaps

According to LinkedIn's 2026 Talent Velocity Advantage Report, 86% report needing better insights into the skills their organization needs to adapt and grow.

6 ways to implement AI in your L&D strategy

Here are examples of what I mean by that.

1. Content generation

After being repeatedly assured “nothing” was changing, you find out the rating scale has been rewritten ever so slightly. Instead of panicking about all the places you put that rating scale, you go to your company-approved LLM, and ask it to surface any assets with the previous scale.

2. Localization

With an AI video platform, you can produce and localize training across multiple languages.

3. Scenario-based role play

A manager reaches out to you because call logs show support agents struggling to de-escalate frustrated customers. You turn to AI for scalable role play.

4. Just-in-time support

Your AI-native learning platform adapts their onboarding experiences accordingly, offering a “new to industry” learning path to new employees.

5. Personalized learning paths

6. Skills mapping and gap analysis

In a planning session, you learn the business plans to expand into a new region. You can identify missing capabilities using AI tools.

What are the benefits and challenges of using AI in L&D?

1. Capacity

Benefits: Across the board, the most immediate gain L&D leaders report is speed.

Challenges: Producing content more quickly doesn't necessarily translate to better outcomes.

2. Cost

Benefits: 45% of teams are already reporting cost savings from AI.

Challenges: AI can be expensive, especially at the enterprise level.

3. Governance

Benefits: Building AI governance into your workflows is an opportunity to standardize processes.

Challenges: Most enterprises are still learning how to govern AI.

4. Business impact

Benefits: 41% of L&D teams say AI is already contributing to business impact by enabling them to create content more quickly.

Challenges: Most teams haven't reached the maturity to demonstrate measurable business impact from AI in L&D.

How do you measure AI's impact on training outcomes?

To get started, you'll need four inputs:

• One observable behavior that the training was designed to change or impact
• Two signals of that behavior in the workflow
• A proxy measurement for business impact

What the research says about behavioral change

• Practice drives transfer.
• Feedback accelerates improvement.
• Context determines transfer.

What are the best AI tools for training and development?

1. Large Language Models (LLMs)

LLMs are where we're able to get the most support.

2. Learning Management Systems and Learning Experience Platforms (LMS/LXP)

3. eLearning authoring tools

4. Video platforms

5. Coaching

What does the future of AI in L&D look like?

While I'm not in the prediction business, I do think the data is directionally interesting. Only 47% of respondents said they think the LMS will be the backbone of their stack in three years.
That said, 58% of respondents believe AI gives L&D more strategic influence.

AMY VIDOR

Amy Vidor, PhD is a Learning & Development Evangelist at Synthesia, where she researches learning trends and helps organizations apply AI at scale.