Experts on workplace learning: What’s changing in 2026
Blog | Vision
AI is making learning faster — we hear it everywhere. But if you look closely, something else is happening: learning is slowly disappearing from view. Not because it’s losing value, but because it is less and less recognizable as a separate activity.
Employees take fewer training courses outside of work. Instead, they learn while they work — during onboarding, in collaboration with colleagues, or at the moment they get stuck and have to decide. The learning process is shifting from the classroom and formal environments to the workplace itself.
As we move toward 2026, learning is fundamentally changing. It’s moving away from planned moments toward continuous support, with technology that is often quietly present in the background. Less focus on content, more on action. Less searching, more finding. Less generic, more personalized.
In this article, experts share their vision of what this means for learning, onboarding, and knowledge sharing heading into 2026.
1. Knowledge at the right time, for the right person
Menno Lanting — Hyper-personal learning
Menno Lanting, expert in leadership and innovation, predicts that hyper-personalized learning will become the norm by 2026. AI will make it possible to tailor learning experiences continuously to someone’s role, prior knowledge, behavior, and context.
For new employees, onboarding will no longer be fixed programs but targeted support when it’s needed — no overload of information upfront, but the right micro-learning or practical simulation at the moment it matters.
AI will also help capture and organize implicit knowledge — such as experience and practical solutions — and deliver it at the right time, helping organizations become more agile.
2. From learning as an activity to learning as infrastructure
Peter Hinssen — Learning becomes infrastructure
According to innovation expert Peter Hinssen (see photo), by 2026 learning will no longer be something organized through trainings, onboarding programs, or separate LMS systems. Instead, learning will be embedded in daily work, with AI as a quiet co-pilot in the background.
AI won’t just be a platform — it will become a context-sensitive knowledge layer that thinks along, summarizes, and guides people when they get stuck in their work.
Hinssen warns: organizations that reduce AI to a faster search engine may improve efficiency, but not smarter work. The real challenge lies not in making knowledge available, but in helping people judge, connect, and ask better questions in a world overflowing with answers.
3. Learning as a muscle, not a checklist
Elke Geraerts — Authentic intelligence
Neuropsychologist Elke Geraerts explains that learning will shift from optional to intentional because AI doesn’t just deliver content — it understands behavior and context. This makes onboarding smoother and knowledge sharing more natural.
But true learning still depends on people. Around 70% of learning happens informally at work — through doubt, discussion, and mistakes. AI can support this by offering knowledge at the right time, but human behavior remains the lever: better questions, thoughtful reflection, and critical thinking.
Technology can boost learning, but without culture, psychological safety, and ownership, it leads to superficial learning. Real learning becomes a muscle, not a box to check.
4. From push to pull — Learning follows the question
Steven van Belleghem — On-demand learning
According to customer experience expert Steven van Belleghem, learning and onboarding will shift from push (courses and content pushed to employees) to pull — delivering exactly what someone needs when they need it. AI makes this possible with contextualized, instant responses to specific needs.
This makes learning faster, continuous, and more fluid. But there's a risk: thinking AI is the whole story. Technology takes over the operational part — explanations, processes, and basics — but human-to-human interaction remains essential for deeper growth.
5. Knowing is not the same as understanding
Christian Kromme — Human judgment becomes decisive
Futurist Christian Kromme stresses that AI knows more and more — it can access and structure vast amounts of knowledge instantly. But understanding is different. It requires human insight, experience, context, and awareness.
Learning, then, is not just about facts or hard skills, but about developing judgment, reflection, and empathy. Onboarding shifts from systems and information toward culture, values, and interpersonal dynamics.
If organizations confuse knowing with understanding, they become technologically smarter but humanly poorer. This is why human judgment will be more important than ever by 2026.
6. From standard programs to personal learning paths
Tim Segers — Customized learning as the norm
Tim Segers, with experience in EdTech, predicts that learning and onboarding will move toward personalized learning paths by 2026. No more one-size-fits-all programs — learning adapts to who you are, what you do, and how you learn. AI helps people find knowledge faster, makes internal expertise accessible, and nudges learners with timely micro-learning moments.
However, Segers cautions against over-focusing on technology. AI doesn’t replace the human aspect — culture and leadership give direction and meaning. Human skills like critical thinking and empathy will become even more essential. Technology can support learning, but learning remains human work.
7. The critical note: Learning is not content
Ger Driesen — Learning itself doesn’t change
International speaker Ger Driesen reminds us: learning itself doesn’t change — what changes are the tools around it. Learning is the formation and strengthening of neural connections. Often we confuse training or consuming content with actual learning.
Today’s AI is often used to produce content faster, but better-looking content isn’t necessarily more effective. The danger is an overflow of fast yet mediocre content — technology applied to old learning habits.
The real opportunity lies in using AI to support new and more effective approaches — those that foster learning where it truly happens, or that even eliminate the need to relearn redundant things.
8. AI requires a strong learning foundation
Mujibor de Graaf — Without a foundation, no acceleration
Mujibor de Graaf, co-founder and CEO of Fellow Digitals, emphasises that AI only accelerates learning when it’s embedded in a strong learning foundation. Organizations experiment with AI tools, but without a cohesive learning landscape, the impact remains limited.
A future-proof LMS isn’t a library of trainings, but a learning environment where AI helps structure knowledge, personalize it, and make it immediately applicable at work. Then learning stops being an extra step and becomes a natural part of performance.
What learning really requires in 2026
2026 won’t be an AI revolution in learning — it will be an integration revolution. AI accelerates and personalizes, but learning remains human.
Organizations that treat learning as strategic infrastructure — rooted in culture, driven by curiosity, and strengthened by technology — create lasting agility. In companies where employees are continuously developed and knowledge flows freely, a decisive competitive advantage emerges. They move faster, innovate more powerfully, and shorten their time-to-market structurally.
Perhaps learning changes less than we think — but the way we design, experience, and share it determines who will lead tomorrow.
AI can speed up learning — but quality makes the difference. See how our LMS supports meaningful learning, embedded in daily work.
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