The Problem With AI Training.
You Can Train People on AI, and Still Lose Them in This Moment of Change.
I read a stat in a SHRM article this week that made me pause:
By 2030, 50% of workplace skills are projected to change.
With generative AI accelerating the pace, that number jumps to 68%.
That’s a staggering number. That’s a lot of humans in the middle of big change, and it feels threatening. It feels like the ground has shifted under all of our feet.
But it shouldn’t feel this way. This moment shouldn’t feel like a scary interruption to our careers.
This AI moment could be a time of opportunity and growth, not fear.
So in my view, this isn’t primarily a call to teach our people about AI.
(Obviously, they’ll need to use new tools - but that’s not the core issue.)
First, we have to teach our people how to handle change itself.
AI is just the latest accelerant. Change was already moving fast, and technology is simply speeding it up and making it unavoidable.
The Real Risk Isn’t Skill Gaps. It’s Adaptation Gaps.
Right now, most organizations are responding to this AI stat the same way:
More upskilling initiatives
More certifications
More platforms
More pressure to “keep up”
Those things matter, but they are missing the deeper issue.
When more than half of the skills required to do your job are in flux, the real differentiator isn’t what your people know.
It’s:
How they respond when what they know becomes outdated
How they think under pressure
How they navigate uncertainty without burning out
How they let go of old identities to grow into new ones
That’s not an AI problem.
That’s a human change problem.
Why This Moment Feels So Heavy for Everyone
What we’re seeing right now isn’t resistance to innovation.
It’s nervous systems under strain.
People aren’t just being asked to learn new tools.
They’re being asked to:
Redefine their value
Question their relevance
Perform while adapting
Stay confident while the ground keeps shifting
That’s exhausting. And when leaders don’t name that reality, teams internalize the pressure. Then people start to disengage, shut down, or burn out. They will lose some of their most experienced people.
The Organizations That Will Win Won’t be the Fastest Adopters of AI…
They’ll be the ones who are best at change.
The companies that thrive in the next decade won’t just roll out new technology well.
They’ll:
Help people make sense of constant change
Normalize discomfort without normalizing chaos
Build confidence, not fear, around what’s next
Teach people how to move through change, again and again and again…
Because this isn’t a one-time transition.
This is now the operating environment - for all of us.
Leaders Have a Choice
Leaders can keep reacting to every new wave - AI, automation, restructuring, shifting roles.
Or they can invest in something far more durable: People who know how to navigate change, personally and professionally, without losing themselves or giving up, in the process.
That’s the work I’m doing. The look on the audience's faces and the comments afterward are reaffirming.
I am not teaching people what to think about the future…
I am helping them re-wire how they think about these changes and giving them skills to stay steady, capable, and confident while the future keeps changing.
Because skills will always continue to evolve.
Remember when “pivot tables” were a thing people feared? And now Excel skills are old news! Next decade’s fear will be generative AI dashboards. Then something else…
Some of you reading this are in my generation. We trained entire teams on PowerPoint… then Excel macros… then “how to use Slack properly. This is the next major inflection point. It will reshape roles, workflows, and expectations across every industry. We’ve done this before.
The ability to handle change? That’s what today’s workforce needs right now. That’s the advantage that lasts.