Traditional job descriptions, built around static and legacy roles, are struggling to keep up with the pace of business transformation. As industries evolve and new technologies emerge, the skills required to succeed are changing rapidly.
According to the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Future of Jobs Report, employers expect 39% of workers’ core skills to change by 2030, indicating the need for adaptability and continuous learning.
This shift reflects a growing realisation that in an AI-augmented workplace, what matters most is not the title on someone’s CV, but what they can actually do and the value they add. However, despite this urgent need to adapt to a rapidly changing market, organisations remain unprepared for the future. Skillsoft’s Global Skills Intelligence research found that only 10% of HR and L&D professionals feel fully confident their workforce can deliver on business goals in the next 1-2 years.
This lack of confidence doesn’t stem from a shortage of knowledge among talent, but from the fact that organisations do not have the talent insights to build truly future-ready teams that can evolve quickly, lead change and integrate both human and AI capabilities to solve real-world challenges.
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From workforce to skillforce
The traditional workforce model, built around fixed roles and hierarchical career paths, is poorly suited to a world where technology and the required skills change almost daily, and organizations struggle to match talent to the dynamic needs of the business. To truly prepare for the future, organisations need to build a dynamic workforce that prioritises collaboration between people and AI, aligning tasks to their unique strengths – not their title.
Take a marketing team launching a new campaign. Instead of assigning tasks based on job titles, the team is assembled based on skills such as data visualisation, customer segmentation and AI-driven content generation. AI tools assist with predictive modelling, while human team members interpret insights and shape strategy. This kind of skills-based collaboration is becoming the norm in forward-thinking organisations.
To create a successful skillforce, leaders will need to align skills with work in real-time to ensure their business and team are prepared for challenges, now and in the future. This requires a new approach to talent development programmes and the creation of an environment where employees feel supported in their growth.
While technology can support this evolution, trust remains the foundation of any new programme. Our research shows that self-evaluated leadership, AI and technical domains skills are often overstated, creating a disconnect between perceived and actual capabilities, which can have a detrimental impact on future planning.
Leaders must cultivate a culture of openness where employees feel safe to discuss their skills in a balanced way and managers are equipped to offer constructive feedback that inspires growth. When professional development is visibly prioritised, employees are more likely to embrace learning opportunities that benefit both their careers and the organisation.
Managing capability across people and AI agents
As AI becomes a true collaborator in the workplace, organisations need visibility into the capabilities of both people and AI agents. Yet, most talent intelligence platforms only contemplate human skills, leaving a blind spot in workforce planning. A shared framework for skills intelligence can bridge this gap. It allows leaders to see the full spectrum of skills across the entire workforce, match capabilities to project needs with precision, and build flexible, high-performing human-agentic teams that adapt as business priorities shift.
Skills intelligence goes beyond simply tracking what employees know. It involves understanding their potential, monitoring their learning progress and connecting skills to business outcomes. For example, as more AI agents become embedded in the workforce, there will be a growing need for power skills such as adaptability, communication and problem-solving to enable employees to collaborate effectively with AI and drive innovation. It is equally important, that workers’ agentic counterparts are also trained on these power skills so that they preserve consistency of operation and customer experience.
When implemented effectively, skills intelligence becomes a strategic asset. It empowers organisations to respond faster to market changes, innovate more effectively and grow stronger.
Skills are the “new oil”
In the age of AI, the value of an employee is increasingly defined by their ability to learn continuously, adapt quickly and contribute meaningfully to evolving business needs. As technology transforms industries, organisations are recognising that success depends less on legacy job titles and more on dynamic skills that enable people to lead change, solve complex problems and collaborate effectively in human-AI teams.
Skills gaps are no longer background noise and area now a top barrier to growth. Organisations that embrace a skills-first approach unlock the full potential of their people and the capabilities of AI as a collaborative force. For those willing to reimagine work through the lens of skills, the reward is a workforce that can lead change.
Mark Onisk is the Senior Managing Director of Talent Strategy and Transformation at Skillsoft. He leads the ideation and design of skills-based talent models, develops interactive learning experiences for enterprise transformation initiatives, and formulates skill analytics and ROI models with Skillsoft's strategic customers.
Mark also facilitates a range of customer workshops to share market insights and apply these learnings to customer business challenges . Previously, Mark served as Chief Content Officer and SVP of Skillsoft Books, which included innovations such as Skillsoft's Aspire learning curriculum, practice labs and cinema-quality content for company products.
His earlier roles include VP of Content Production and strategic business development, following Skillsoft’s acquisition of Element K, where he spent 15 years in product leadership.
