Almost half of Irish organisations aren't tackling their skills gaps, even as AI use grows
A new survey from the Learnovate Centre finds more Irish organisations putting AI to work, while learning for their people slips down the list.
More Irish organisations are using AI, but many are not preparing their people for it. That is the message from the Learnovate Centre's Learning Signals Survey 2026, which asked 225 professionals across corporate learning, education and learning technology about the state of workplace learning.
Almost half of organisations (48%) are not proactively tackling their skills gaps, according to TechCentral's report of the findings. Learnovate's own summary says half rely on reactive, short-term approaches rather than a proactive strategy. Only one in four has a regularly updated, forward-looking skills strategy.
At the same time, AI use is climbing. 28% of organisations are now actively using AI, up five percentage points on last year.
So what is holding them back? Mostly time and money. Three in four (74%) named time and resource constraints among their top three barriers to learning, and 60% said day-to-day operational demands come first.
"If organisations want to realise the potential of AI, they need to make workforce development part of their AI strategy," said Nessa McEniff, managing director of the Learnovate Centre. "To maximise the potential of any technology, organisations must have skilled and confident people to use it effectively."
The survey also records a worry about what AI does to the way we think: respondents raised concerns about "cognitive offloading and the erosion of critical thinking skills".
What it means for the rest of us. In The Age of Intelligence, Gerard McNamara argues that AI is changing "thinking" work, not just factory work, and that no job is safe just because it needs education. The book's practical guide suggests starting with an honest look at your own job: which parts are routine information work, and which need judgement, creativity or people skills. Or, as one worker in the book puts it: "Learn to work with machines, or learn something machines cannot do."
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By Gerard McNamara
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This article draws on themes explored in depth across 25 chapters in The Age of Intelligence: How AI Will Transform Life in the Coming Decade.
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