Why Info-Tech Says a Lack of Training Slows Business Growth

Demands for new IT skills are growing faster than businesses can upskill their employees, according to research from Info-Tech.

The research finds that the core responsibilities of IT professionals are changing every 18 months on average. 

According to Info-Tech, a lack of training infrastructure to develop these skills can be a “primary driver” of rising skills gaps and slowed business growth. 

In order to meet future demand, 93% of respondents say IT skills must evolve within five years – but many companies still see IT learning as something that operates “outside the flow of work”. 

Other research has found this extends outside of IT, with HR Dive’s Identity of HR survey demonstrating that only 5% of companies placed employee training as a top business priority in 2025, down from 12% in 2024. 

Heather Leier-Murray, Research Director at Info-Tech Research Group, says of the findings: “Learning cannot solely sit outside the work if IT is expected to lead transformation.

“When responsibilities shift every 18 months, CIOs need to embed learning directly into workflows so capability development can keep pace with execution and change.”

Investments in upskilling

Many leading organisations are beginning to prioritise digital learning as part of an AI strategy. 

Accenture, for insurance, has invested US$1bn to upskill employees in AI using its LearnVantage platform. 

This platform uses AI recommendation engines to create a personalised employee learning pathway, which assesses their existing skills against the skills that the business needs. 

The company has made these investments as part of its internal rebrand towards ‘reinvention’, where technology, operations and other functions have been merged into a business area referred to as a ‘Reinvention Service’. 

Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture, shared in a Q1 2026 earnings call that the company is upskilling employees in this way to help the business grow. She said to investors: “the workforce needs new skills to use AI, and new talent strategies and related competencies must be developed.”

The ability to fail

Research from Deloitte finds that businesses that have a culture where employees can learn and grow through failure. 

Its research finds that the high performing businesses tend to give workers the opportunity to experiment with unfamiliar technologies in business cases, as this can increase fluency with new solutions. 

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has previously said that encouraging a culture of learning was crucial for him when he first became CEO, which he has facilitated by developing an environment where employees can have space to fail. Satya refers to this as a ‘learn-it-all’ approach. 

Discussing this model on the Hello Monday podcast, Satya said: “If you take two kids at school, one of them has more innate capability but is a know-it-all. The other person has less innate capability but is a learn-it-all. The learn-it-all does better than the know-it-all”. 

A framework for embedding learning

To better embed learning into IT operations, Info-Tech has developed a framework which Heather says “reframes learning as an operational system rather than an isolated HR initiative and aligns skill development directly with business execution and measurable outcomes”. 

It sets this out in phases. The first phase involves IT leaders assessing where their skills currently sit in their team to create a prioritised development plan which ties skill gaps to future business initiatives. 

From there, specific learning touch points can be created to ensure relevant and effective learning opportunities are a part of an employee's workflow. Once that is in place, leaders must continuously review this strategy to make sure skills fit with an “evolving organisational strategy”, says Info-Tech.