Irish firms fail to tackle skills gaps as AI use grows

Almost half of Irish organisations are failing to tackle workforce skills gaps as AI adoption grows, according to Learnovate’s 2026 survey.

The Learnovate Centre’s Learning Signals Survey 2026 found that 48% of organisations are not taking a proactive approach to addressing gaps in workforce skills.

AI is becoming a more established part of everyday operations, with 28% of organisations now actively using the technology, an increase of 5% on the previous year.

Learnovate said organisations need to increase access to learning and development as they implement AI, warning that shortcomings in workforce development could affect individual AI projects, businesses and the wider economy.

Skills strategy

The annual survey polled 225 professionals working across education, learning technology, business and other sectors.

Among organisations that are not proactively addressing workforce skills gaps, 24% are responding reactively based on short-term needs. A further 15% recognise that skills gaps exist but lack direction on how to address them, while 9% do not consider skills development strategically important.

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Only 25% of respondents said their organisation has a regularly updated, forward-looking skills strategy. Another 25% said their organisation is developing a strategy and experimenting with initiatives focused on future skills.

Time and resources squeeze training

Time and resource pressures emerged as a major obstacle to digital upskilling, with 74% of respondents naming them among their three biggest barriers to learning and development.

Some 60% of organisations are prioritising competing operational demands over learning and development. Respondents identified this as the single biggest barrier to learning, followed by change fatigue at 16% and a failure by leadership to value learning at 7%.

The survey also points to changing priorities within learning and development.

In 2023, engaging learners was ranked as the biggest challenge by respondents. In the 2026 survey, managing technology and digital transformation is the most cited challenge at 55%.

Budget and resource constraints were cited by 48%, addressing skills gaps by 43%, and engaging learners by 40%.

AI pilots gather pace

The research found that 29% of organisations are using AI in isolated pilot projects but have yet to scale the technology or make significant investments. Another 27% are experimenting cautiously.

Some 8% have yet to deploy AI but plan to do so within the next 18 months, while 4% have no plans to deploy the technology.

The three most commonly cited barriers to digital upskilling were time and resource constraints at 74%, uneven digital fluency across the workforce at 41%, and resistance to change at 36%.

A quarter of respondents identified a shortage of talent and specialist staff as one of their three biggest barriers to developing digital skills.

The survey also found that 79% believe making learning relevant to learners is the most important way of motivating them, up from 51% in 2023.

“The Learnovate Learning Signals Survey 2026 shows that almost half of organisations are not proactively addressing skills gaps, while time and competing operational demands are continuing to squeeze learning and development,” explained Nessa McEniff, managing director of The Learnovate Centre.

“If organisations want to realise the potential of AI, they need to make workforce development part of their AI strategy. Failure to do so carries risks for the organisation, their individual AI implementation projects, and the wider economy as the efficiency benefits of AI risk not being reflected in companies’ bottom line.

“AI adoption is accelerating, but the survey shows that organisations are not treating skills development as a priority. To maximise the potential of any technology, organisations must have skilled and confident people to use it effectively.”

The Learnovate Centre is a future of work and learning research hub funded by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland and based at Trinity College Dublin. Its annual Learning Signals Survey examines the experiences of learning professionals and people working in companies that develop learning technology or content.

Image at top: Nessa McEniff, managing director of The Learnovate Centre