Want a surefire way to become an AI leader and protect your business from disruption? A global survey of 1,600 enterprise leaders and employees found that the most important step is to set an AI target for your workforce.

Half of all enterprises have a fully defined and approved AI-related business objective in place for 2025, according to Workera’s 2025 State of Skills Intelligence Report. A further 46% have one in development. A similar percentage (51%) of learning and development (L&D) leaders said their organization has a fully defined and implemented AI adoption strategy overall.

The companies that already have a mature AI strategy are racing ahead of the competition. Organizations that have a fully defined and approved AI business objective for 2025 are significantly more likely to feel their skills initiatives are aligned with broader business goals; their training programs are far more effective in closing skill gaps; and their employees are on track to acquire the necessary skills for an AI-enabled future beyond ChatGPT.

Workera surveyed 800 L&D leaders from five countries — narrowing our focus to those at industry giants with more than 5,000 employees — and 800 employees from companies of the same size. The data is clear: enterprises with an established L&D division and clear AI goals are gaining a significant advantage.

Here’s what the results mean for your organization.

Clarity on AI is already making a difference for workforces

The enterprises that have set out a clear business objective and adoption strategy for AI are seeing immediate impacts:

  • L&D leaders at large companies are remarkably optimistic about their workforce’s current AI abilities and trajectory moving forward. A full 63% believe their organization will be “AI-ready” in the next two years, and a further 36% believe they will be partially ready.
    But there’s a stark difference between leaders at companies with a developed AI strategy and those without. 87% of L&D leaders at organizations with a fully-defined AI objective believe their organization will be AI-ready in the next two years, compared to 39% of leaders at organizations without a mature AI strategy.
  • Notably, organizations that have a fully defined and approved AI business objective for 2025 are significantly more likely (53% vs 17%) than those without one to feel that their current L&D strategy supports internal talent mobility and retention very well.
  • Establishing a defined AI goal also pays dividends for AI skills training. Organizations with a fully defined and approved AI business objective for 2025 are fully training 43.8% of their new hires in AI skills within the first 90 days, compared to 34.2% of organizations without a fully defined AI target.
  • Those benefits extend beyond AI to an employee’s entire skill set. Organizations with a fully defined and approved AI business objective are significantly more likely to feel that their current training programs are very effective in closing skill gaps (47% vs 16%).

Where enterprises are falling behind

Not every enterprise is keeping pace with evolving AI skill demands. Unsurprisingly, the technology industry is leading the charge on AI skills. Tech has the highest percentage of organizations using AI across multiple business functions (86%), the highest fully defined and implemented AI adoption strategies (66%), and the strongest belief that their workforce will be fully “AI-ready” within two years (78%). Manufacturing, on the other hand, has the lowest percentage of organizations using AI across multiple business functions (62%), the lowest fully defined and implemented AI adoption strategies (33%), and the weakest belief that their workforce will be fully “AI-ready” within two years (59%). One trend worth keeping an eye on: AI training strategies aren’t seeping down from leadership to the workforce. Half of L&D leaders (51%) said their organization has a fully defined and implemented AI adoption strategy, but just 25% of employees have personally been offered AI-specific training opportunities by their companies in the past 12 months.

On the positive side, 94% of respondents are confident that their organization's skills initiatives are aligned with broader business goals. But despite this confidence, 80% still feel their organizations are falling behind competitors due to ineffective reskilling. This suggests an underlying disconnect between perceived alignment and actual skills impact. Organizations that have a fully defined and approved AI business objective for 2025 are more confident by 38 percentage points.

How organizations can put an AI strategy in place

Enterprises with a fully defined AI objective are ahead of the pack, but it’s not too late for other organizations to catch up. L&D leaders can take steps now to develop an AI-ready workforce backed by verified skills intelligence.

The first step is to move beyond existing, outmoded strategies to track and verify skills.  Most organizations still rely on self-reported surveys, course clicks, or inferred signals that show exposure, not mastery. Verified skills intelligence — delivered by platforms like Workera — replaces guesswork with precise, role-aligned data that L&D leaders and employees alike can trust. That skills intelligence allows business leaders to establish detailed goals for their AI initiatives — and to keep track of progress with regular assessments and insights. 

Skills intelligence establishes the foundation for enterprises to build an AI-ready workforce, providing business leaders with trusted information bringing more confidence to hiring, staffing projects, and addressing potential skills gaps. Enterprises with fully defined and approved AI business objectives are more likely (50% vs 21%) to feel that their organization will be significantly increasing headcount in the next 12 months. 

For more, read the full 2025 State of Skills Intelligence Report. You’ll find actionable data on how far along your peers are in adopting AI, the ways in which organizations are using skills data to assemble and assign their workforces, and the impacts of AI risks and regulations.