Is AI Becoming an Essential Workplace Expectation?

Nearly three quarters of business leaders say AI literacy is essential for day to day work, and 88% say the same of data literacy – with a similar percentage saying the same of an employees’ ability to write. 

The research, conducted by DataComp in its 2026 State of Data and AI Literacy report, finds that AI is becoming a baseline workplace expectation in many businesses – but not all of them have the structure in place to succeed. 

While employers are expecting significant returns on their AI investments, nearly 60% of business leaders are reporting a skills gap in their organisation. Those that do invest in structured upskilling, says the report, are nearly twice as likely to report significant ROI. 

Developing an organisational AI literacy programme

Despite the skills gap, more than three quarters of businesses are offering some form of AI training. 

Only 35% of those surveyed say their businesses have a mature AI literacy programme, however, with many leaders citing problems with their current upskilling programmes. 

According to the research, consistent issues with AI training and development programmes include poor role relevance, a lack of structured pathways and a prevalence of passive video-based learning. 

The report suggests that traditional, slower moving training models are not suited to rapidly evolving skills, with businesses needing to develop training that is rooted in specific use cases. 

Investments in AI learning

Leading organisations are making significant investments in their AI upskilling programmes as they look to close the skills gap and build on growth. 

Accenture has invested US$1bn in its “LearnVantage” platform, which allows employees to blend learning opportunities with practical applications – such as AI sandboxes, in which workers can test solutions in real time. 

The company is looking to double its number of skilled data and AI professionals as part of this investment, with CEO Julie Sweet sharing on the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call: “The workforce needs new skills to use AI, and new talent strategies and related competencies must be developed.”

Allianz has also developed an AI upskilling programme, which was awarded an International Brilliance Award for AI skill building and digital capability development in February. 

This initiative uses a combination of webinars, role-based learning pathways and the practical application of AI in the business, and has reached more than 144,000 employees globally. 

Bettina Dietsche, Group Chief People and Culture Officer of Allianz, says of the initiative on LinkedIn: “The programme empowers colleagues to use AI with confidence, accelerates the adoption of our AI tools and enables teams to develop concrete solutions that improve their day-to-day work. 

“Today, the Global AI Run, a perfect symbiosis of Allianz and Allianz Technology, is a cornerstone of how we develop digital and AI capabilities across Allianz.”

Human-AI collaboration across every function

To create a successful AI upskilling programme, DataComp recommends that people leaders encourage human and AI collaboration through embedding learning that is practical, relevant to employees' workflows and tailored to career development. 

This can help employees better understand the use cases of the technology within the context of their role and adopt it faster – which the report finding that organisations that make the shift to human-AI collaboration are significantly more likely to see measurable AI ROI.