{"id":9862,"date":"2025-08-08T19:04:46","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T11:04:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=9862"},"modified":"2025-08-08T19:07:49","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T11:07:49","slug":"half-life-of-ai-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/ap\/blog\/half-life-of-ai-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"The Half-Life of AI Skills Is Shrinking: Your Training Needs To Evolve"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Add learning and development to the list of business functions that AI is turning on its head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Companies are adopting artificial intelligence (AI)<\/a> at such a frenetic pace that the half-life of AI skills has shrunk to a fraction of what it once was. The old model of corporate training, designed to roll out over months or even years, no longer fits the needs of a world \u2014 and workforce \u2014 that\u2019s changing so fast. That means learning and development (L&D), the business function that provides training and resources to help workers succeed, needs to rethink its approach.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think [L&D] needs to fundamentally change,\u201d said Meredith Brown, senior vice president of Trailhead and Community at Salesforce. \u201cThere are elements of traditional L&D that work, but it cannot be the only way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fix? Close the skills gap with agile, personalised, and ongoing learning. Companies that embrace this are already seeing big payoffs. A recent Slack survey<\/a> found that employees who\u2019ve had AI training are up to 19 times more likely to say AI boosts their productivity. Without that training, the survey said, employees may not take full advantage of AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The demand for an AI-literate workforce is acute<\/a>, and it\u2019s felt across all workgroups, from the technical teams building the models to business users throughout the company. This points to a broader change in what it means to be a modern, high-performing employee. According to a recent Mckinsey report<\/a>, \u201cFor organisations to perform at their best, all employees need to be techies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why traditional learning is no longer enough <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The usual approaches to training, like workshops, seminars, and self-directed learning, don\u2019t cut it in the AI era \u2014 not because they\u2019re poorly designed, but because they were built for a world that no longer exists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These old models rely on annual planning cycles that produce comprehensive courses for skills expected to last for years. That worked in an era of relative stability marked by longer upgrade cycles. Today, the half-life of AI skills has shortened. By the time you complete an AI course \u2014 which can, itself, take months to develop \u2014 the tools it covers may already be outdated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if the content is still relevant, the format is inconvenient. Employees typically have to pause their work, log into a platform, find the right course, and carve out time to take it. Learning becomes a scheduled event, not a regular part of the workday. Some people might even try to squeeze it into off-hours, which only feeds the growing epidemic of the infinite workday<\/a>, and could accelerate burnout. And the gap between learning and doing means it\u2019s all too easy to forget what you\u2019ve learned \u2014 just when you need it most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to rethink learning for the AI era <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Instead of building rigid curricula whose success is defined by delivery and completion rates, companies should focus on how quickly employees can use<\/em> new skills in their daily work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How fast can you make an employee effective at a new AI-driven task? If your competitors can upskill their sales team on an AI-powered forecasting tool in two weeks, and your company takes three months, you\u2019ve probably lost your edge. Here are four ways you can regain it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Keep learning content fresh <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Brown says many companies struggle to keep their learning content in sync with the rapid pace of AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt becomes outdated pretty fast, so you need tools and processes that help you be agile, so you can change content as the technology changes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her team is constantly looking for ways to keep content fresh \u2014 including, ironically, using AI. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur team can ask an AI agent to do deep research to figure out what\u2019s changed in the curriculum,\u201d she said. \u201cThe human is always on top of it, but we can save them lots of research time.\u201d   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You might also consider micro-learning as a way to keep content fresh. Instead of offering one huge course, create a playlist of two-to-five-minute videos or interactive lessons, each focused on a single skill, like how to use an AI tool\u2019s summarise feature, or how to use AI to analyse a presentation. As the technology evolves, you can update these snippets in hours. This agility means your learning library stays in sync with the speed of AI.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Embed learning into workflows <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Have you ever sat through a training session, felt like you grasped it, and then, weeks later, drawn a blank when you had to apply what you learned? That\u2019s the problem with one-and-done learning. It delivers information out of context, far from the moment of need, so it\u2019s easy to forget and hard to apply. In the age of AI, where tools and best practices evolve faster than ever, the gap between learning and doing becomes even more costly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Training Industry<\/a>, a resource for learning professionals, \u201cBeing able to apply relevant learning immediately fosters a culture of continuous learning and makes it far more likely that the learning, and how to apply it, will be remembered for future use.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why embedding learning into everyday workflows is so effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salesforce\u2019s Agentforce Sales Coach<\/a>, for example, gives sales reps smart, real-time coaching based on what stage their deal is in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early on, Agentforce Sales Coach can review a seller\u2019s pitch and offer targeted feedback through an opportunity coaching module. During the negotiation or proposal stage, it can role-play a customer, asking tough questions to help the rep sharpen their approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes the feedback smart? Agentforce cross-checks the conversation against the prospect\u2019s data in your customer relationship management (CRM<\/a>) system, so the coaching is grounded in real context, not hypotheticals. Salesforce is considering other AI-based coaches for marketing and service.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just-in-time learning is still evolving, but Slack, where many employees already spend much of their day, is an ideal delivery channel. With Slackbots or custom workflows, you can serve up curated content or internal resources right when it\u2019s needed \u2014 no tab switching or portal searches required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The McKinsey report notes that, \u201cThe future of learning isn\u2019t about adding more training on top of work; it\u2019s about reimagining work itself as inherently developmental. In this new paradigm, learning is not a \u2018go away and do\u2019 activity but a seamless, integrated part of the work experience \u2014 personalised, continuous, and directly tied to business outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Try new formats and assessments <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Want to bore your employees into a learning-based fog? Keep exclusively offering passive training like lectures and videos. When it comes to learning, this one-way, static approach just doesn\u2019t stick. What does? On-demand and interactive experiences that learners can immediately apply to their work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider different formats, like voice. Salesforce offers over two dozen on-demand Trailcasts<\/a>, in which users can listen to select Trailhead<\/a> modules, either online or on the Trailhead GO mobile app. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe also need to think about how to bring in interactivity,\u201d said Brown. \u201cHow do you engage the learner? How do you make them part of the learning experience so you make sure that skill is transferring?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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The old learning and development model wasn’t built for an AI era that reinvents itself every few months.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n