Better, Cheaper, Quicker: How AI is Shaping Corporate Training

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has disrupted nearly every industry since its mass-scale introduction at the end of 2022 — and corporate training is no exception. To stay ahead of the curve and ensure high efficiency of their learning and development programs, businesses should recognize and understand the current role of AI in corporate training and how they can make the most of it while avoiding common pitfalls. It’s also crucial for L&D professionals to keep tabs on the emerging trends in AI-powered corporate training to adjust their strategies.  

In this article, we’ll explain how AI is reshaping corporate learning and the benefits it can bring to businesses of all sizes. We will also mention the key challenges of implementing AI tools in corporate L&D and take a brief look at the future of AI in the industry.

The Role of AI in Corporate Training: An Overview

By 2030, the global eLearning industry is projected to grow to over $46 billion, and corporate learning and development seems to be one of the major drivers of this growth. But today’s eLearning isn’t what it used to be at its inception. Over the past few decades, online learning platforms have evolved to become complex software with multiple features, making them able to handle a wide array of tasks.        

The introduction of AI-driven features that began in the late 2010s helped make LMSs for corporate training more effective. But it was the rollout of ChatGPT and similar NLP (Natural Language Processing) chatbots that became the real transformative event for the eLearning industry and corporate training in particular. 

While the early adopters of AI in corporate training were just testing the waters, modern AI solutions for corporate training leverage the full power of AI to supercharge nearly every feature and help companies reach their business goals faster and better. These platforms use AI to streamline repetitive tasks such as enrollments, scheduling, and payroll, as well as to supercharge more complex processes like analyzing data and gleaning actionable insights. Moreover, generative AI technology now powers LMS authoring tools, facilitating content creation and course building. 

Soon, AI-powered LMSs are bound to become the new standard in corporate training. Here are the four main reasons to embrace this trend and implement AI into the L&D process in your organization.

Why Use AI in Corporate L&D?

Here are the four main reasons to implement AI in your learning and development strategy. 

1. Increased productivity

A single employee can only do so much, and the output of a team of employees is only as large as a combination of each of the team member’s outputs. But people have physical limitations — which is perfectly normal but slows down work processes. 

With the help of AI, professionals can overcome these limitations and do more in less time, increasing productivity. By outsourcing tasks such as outlining course structure, creating training materials, collecting and analyzing data, and more, educators and HR specialists can free up resources to create more comprehensive, engaging, and effective training strategies.

2. Better personalization 

Traditional corporate training is often generic, which results in lower employee engagement, weak knowledge retention, lower course completion rates, and overall poorer training outcomes. 

Content personalization, which provides customized learning experiences that take individual strengths and weaknesses into consideration, is more effective. But if educators were to create personalized programs manually, it would take a lot of time. AI handles this within minutes. It can assess skill gaps, identify areas for improvement, and recommend additional resources and specific courses to craft a customized learning path for each learner’s needs. 

3. Access to valuable insights 

Relevant data is essential for many processes, including developing and customizing a corporate training program, tracking employee progress, and more. Collecting this data and analyzing it used to be time-consuming and tedious, but AI has made it much quicker and more convenient.

With reporting and analytics tools built into modern AI-powered LMSs, training managers can get detailed information on all kinds of aspects of learners’ performance, such as completion and engagement rates, skill gaps, and more. Then, they can leverage AI to draw insights from this data and adjust their programs.

4. Reduced costs

Corporate training is not an inexpensive venture. That’s why many businesses keep delaying the implementation of L&D programs, fearing that such an investment will not pay off. For smaller companies, this concern often supersedes all other considerations. 

Fortunately, the best modern LMSs for small businesses now offer built-in AI features that make quality training more accessible by allowing a reduction in costs. Thanks to improved productivity and more effective training programs powered by AI, businesses of all sizes can realize maximum returns from their investments in corporate training.     

How AI Is Already Enhancing Corporate Training 

Here are the key practical applications of AI in employee training and development as of this writing. 

Personalized learning paths

In the battle between personalized vs. one-size-fits-all content, the former always wins. That’s why the ability to quickly build personalized learning paths and enable adaptive learning is one of the biggest benefits of leveraging artificial intelligence technology for corporate learning programs. 

Now, AI algorithms analyze data that includes each learner’s performance, learning styles, proficiency levels, and preferences and then leverage predictive analytics to adjust the program’s parameters, making it more relevant and leading to better learning outcomes overall.  

AI-generated training materials

As per survey results from software company Murf AI, almost 48% of respondents cited time constraints as the biggest hurdle they encounter in creating training content, and over 36% named budget constraints. Modern content creation tools that are present in an AI-based LMS for corporate training make content creation faster and cheaper, taking the bulk of the workload off the L&D program developer’s shoulders.

With AI features integrated into authoring tools like iSpring Suite, educators can outline course structure, create copy and videos, transform text into speech, create subtitles in different languages, and more — in a matter of minutes and seconds instead of hours and days.

Assessment and feedback automation

Feedback and task assessment are essential for any training process. But creating these tasks and providing feedback can be time-consuming — even with a powerful LMS. 

AI can generate quizzes and tests in a matter of minutes and automate feedback. For example, in iSpring Learn, it only takes a few mouse clicks to generate a quiz or a test. This not only frees up time for trainers but also ensures that learners get assessment results and instant feedback in real time and can draw conclusions and act immediately.   

Streamlining administrative routines

Routine tasks, like managing course registrations and scheduling training sessions, are usually tedious, plus they consume a lot of time that could otherwise be better spent. 

AI helps automate these and similar tasks by optimizing scheduling and sending out automatic reminders, for instance. This allows trainers and HR departments to focus on seeing the bigger picture and improving their programs and overall L&D strategy. 

AI-assisted tutoring and support 

When studying at their own pace online, questions might spring up about specific aspects of a learning program. Human experts can’t be accessible 24/7, but virtual assistants can step in at any time, providing guidance and support and assisting employees in navigating their training. 

Thanks to AI tutoring powered by NLP and machine learning algorithms, companies can deliver more personalized, adaptive, and engaging learning experiences at scale, emulating one-on-one tutoring sessions at a fraction of the cost.  

An example of AI Assistant in the iSpring Learn LMS

Detailed reporting and analytics 

Data-driven insights are essential for measuring employee performance and evaluating the effectiveness of training courses. Here again, crunching the numbers is difficult and takes loads of time.  

AI helps optimize this part of the training process as well. Detailed reports provided by AI-powered LMSs include information on such crucial aspects as completion rates, employee engagement, and knowledge retention. AI can also conduct skills assessments, analyze data, draw conclusions, and suggest upgrades, helping companies deliver a better training experience and improve employee retention.   

Identifying skills gaps 

Effective learning and development training is impossible without understanding what skills the workforce is already equipped with and identifying gaps that need to be addressed. Before corporate AI training, managers used to conduct a skills gap analysis manually. Now, technology can speed up the process. 

Modern AI tools can analyze performance data within teams and entire departments, quickly pinpoint skills gaps, and identify which new skills employees need to acquire. Equipped with data-driven insights and predictive analytics results, managers can design better learning programs. Plus they can leverage AI for skills mapping, a process that involves identifying the skills required for various roles in the company and matching them with the current skills of employees.     

Better engagement

Kids aren’t the only ones that love to play games. Gamification in adult education is also a proven way to boost engagement and improve learning outcomes. However, educational game design requires additional resources that L&D departments often lack.

AI allows you to reduce costs by offering an array of gamification techniques and automating the creation of interactive tasks such as quizzes, tests, role-play games, and other similar training activities. 

More accessibility and inclusivity

With eLearning and mobile learning, education has become remarkably more accessible in recent years. However, in 2024, carving out time for training was one of the biggest challenges in employee training. 

Enhancing corporate training using AI is a way to address this issue by personalizing learning experiences and adapting learning programs to fit each learner’s pace and schedule. AI-powered training is also more inclusive, thanks to features like text-to-speech conversion, machine translation, and customization.     

Microlearning support

Fostering a culture of continuous learning is crucial for any business that wants to stay relevant in the ever-changing modern world. But how can you ensure that employees stay on track? 

Besides making training more accessible, an effective way to do this is to use microlearning — a technique that allows the seamless integration of continuous learning into people’s daily routines. AI helps here by creating bite-sized content and personalizing microlearning training modules to make them more relevant and engaging. 

Challenges of AI Implementation in Corporate Training

AI is an effective tool for enhancing corporate training programs — but only when you’re aware of these common pitfalls.

Learning experiences that are not personalized

AI can make corporate learning more personalized, but not using it adequately can also result in less personalized learning experiences. When trainers offer employees training modules and programs without using advanced AI features, such as analytics, they end up delivering mediocre training that is not tailored to address the needs of their target audience.   

Generic and unengaging course materials

While generative AI tools are great for facilitating the content creation process, it’s entirely insufficient to gain only a superficial understanding of how to use AI to complete corporate training modules. Without proper input data and careful expert review, AI-generated learning content will probably be somewhat generic, resulting in low employee engagement and poor learning outcomes.   

Ineffective program delivery 

Even the most wonderful training program won’t work without effective delivery. An LMS can make or break an entire course or even strategy, so it’s essential to choose from among the best AI solutions for corporate training. iSpring Learn is a robust LMS that helps businesses make the most of AI-powered features while ensuring top performance in other aspects, such as user-friendliness, reliability, convenience, and more.

Moving Forward: The Future of AI in Corporate L&D

As the corporate training field continues to evolve, learning and development professionals will probably rely increasingly on AI technology. The algorithms will also likely become smarter, quicker, and more efficient. This will bring more benefits to those companies that adopt the technology, but will also require additional development for trainers. 

Organizations will need to ensure they teach AI skills to their workforce to enable them to harness the power of artificial intelligence and put it to proper use. It will also be essential to integrate AI tools with LMS platforms currently in use or to choose AI-powered solutions like iSpring Learn to stay ahead of the competition. 

L&D specialists will also have to keep a close eye on emerging trends in AI to ensure that their programs remain relevant. Currently, the most prominent trends shaping AI-driven corporate training include personalization, virtual reality (VR) training, and AI-powered analytics. International enterprises, such as Unilever, Walmart, and Accenture, are already using these and other AI-powered features to enhance corporate learning, and we’re looking forward to all the exciting upcoming innovations.