ARLINGTON, Va., October 8, 2026 — Nearly four in five employers (78%) lack a strong mandate to lead AI upskilling, according to The State of Enterprise Learning 2026, a new research report released today by edX Enterprise, the enterprise learning business of 2U. The study was conducted by research firm NewtonX in partnership with edX Enterprise.
Over 500 verified learning and workforce strategy leaders were surveyed for the report—including chief human resource officers, chief learning officers, and L&D leaders—at companies with 500 or more employees across key industries worldwide. The research findings reveal a gap between employers’ AI ambitions and their ability to act: AI capabilities are an active workforce priority for 83% of respondents, but only 29% say their companies have built mature AI capabilities.
A strong mandate combines executive support, clarity on which capabilities to develop, and the budget and capacity to do the work. Just 26% of respondents are highly confident their learning and development (L&D) function can deliver the capabilities their workforce needs.
“Universities and employers are asking the same question: which capabilities will matter next, and what will it take to build them?” said Andy Morgan, Chief Partnerships Officer at 2U. “Learner searches show us where interest is moving. This research shows us what stands between an employer’s AI ambitions and the ability to deliver on them. Bringing those perspectives together helps our partners make better-informed decisions about the learning they offer and the people they serve.”
The research identifies a small group of “AI transformation leaders”: the 15% of companies that combine mature AI capability with high confidence in their ability to deliver the capabilities their workforce needs. Compared with other companies, these leaders:
NewtonX also analyzed how four factors were associated with AI transformation leader status. Mandate strength accounted for 59% of the factors’ combined influence, followed by measurement depth at 34%. Formal ownership of AI upskilling accounted for just 1%. The analysis suggests that deciding which team owns the work matters far less than giving that team the direction and support to deliver it.
“The most striking finding is how little formal ownership of AI upskilling actually mattered," said Chris Kelly, Strategic Insights & Analytics Director at NewtonX, one of the study’s authors. "Companies burn a lot of energy debating whether AI upskilling belongs to HR, L&D, or IT, but that decision alone builds nothing. What separates the organizations pulling ahead is not who owns AI upskilling, but whether leadership treats it as a priority: a clear mandate, the capacity to act on it, and measures that show whether learning is actually moving workforce readiness. That is what turns AI learning from a course catalog into a capability the business can count on."
The report builds on edX's work to understand how learning needs are changing among individuals and employers. A recent analysis of learner search activity on edX found growing interest in practical AI applications alongside business, technical, and human-centered skills. The State of Enterprise Learning 2026 adds insight into how employers are responding—and the organizational decisions that can help them turn workforce priorities into action.
Through edX Enterprise, companies, universities, and governments can access learning from leading universities and institutions to develop workforce capabilities. Research like The State of Enterprise Learning 2026 helps edX Enterprise better understand the skills employers need, the barriers to developing them, and how learning can support workforce transformation.
Download The State of Enterprise Learning 2026 and explore its findings at business.edx.org/newtonx.
About the research
NewtonX conducted an online survey of 507 verified L&D and workforce strategy leaders responsible for or overseeing learning and development at organizations with 500 or more employees. The survey was fielded from June to July 2026 across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific. NewtonX also conducted 10 in-depth interviews with verified L&D experts.
About edX
edX is the global online learning platform that fuels the world’s ambition. edX was developed in 2012 by Harvard and MIT to make the world’s best education available to everyone. Today, as a part of 2U, edX connects over 100 million people with online learning to meet every professional moment. Together with top-ranked universities and organizations at the forefront of their fields, edX offers thousands of job-relevant programs across nearly every career discipline, from artificial intelligence and robotics to sustainability and public health. Find online courses, certificates, boot camps, and degrees that fuel your ambition at edX.org.
About NewtonX
NewtonX is the only B2B research intelligence platform that delivers AI-speed insights with data you can trace. We help businesses make faster, more defensible decisions, built on verified data across 140+ industries, AI-native automation, and end-to-end research expertise. Trusted by Google, TikTok, Salesforce, Stripe, Microsoft, and Coinbase. Research cited by Gartner, Fortune, Forbes, Adweek, and The Wall Street Journal. Visit newtonx.com.
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