Udemy: 84% of businesses are considering how to implement skills-based processes in the next year

Momentum around AI is growing, showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

But as it’s such a hot topic, businesses may feel inundated with opportunities, not knowing what is the best actions to take next.

To help sift through the confusion, online skills marketplace and learning platform, Udemy released its 2025 Global Learning & Skills Trends Report, which leveraged data from nearly 17,000 enterprise customers.

In an exclusive conversation with Genefa Murphy, CMO of Udemy, UNLEASH explores the three key areas companies need to invest in as they begin to assess learning and development priorities for the year ahead.

Building skills to keep pace with change

One of the key take homes from the report is that enterprises should focus on building practical Gen AI skills that drive applicable solutions.

When first entering the workplace, Gen AI was somewhat a novelty. Now, however, businesses are starting to move towards shifting to practical applications so teams can implement the technology across operations. As a result, we’re seeing real-world integrations of AI.

In fact, Udemy’s report found that Gen AI usage and capabilities are growing 859% year-over-year, with twice the number of organizations using the tool than 10 months ago.

“Interestingly, we saw a shift from general Gen AI knowledge and awareness, to Gen AI productivity,” Murphy says exclusively to UNLEASH.

This shows us that people are hungrier than ever to apply Gen AI in their work life, with a tangible shift from ‘I just want to know what Gen AI is’ to actually, ‘how do I apply it? How do I use it? How can it make me more productive?’” 

“It’s also important to foster a culture of innovation, to give people the opportunity to learn, explore, and even to fail and get things wrong.”

The second area of focus was the need to invest in leadership development and closing the skills gap, with the report stating that the skills gap is “one of the greatest hurdles” for businesses, while highlighting that more than three quarters of business leaders see it as a major source of risk.

The study particularly emphasizes the importance of soft skills, explaining that they need to grow alongside Gen AI competencies to ensure new technologies are paired correctly with human creativity and innovation.

Soft skills are critical,” Murphy explains. “Ultimately, you want to amplify and accelerate tech skills, but soft skills are the foundation.

“People value authenticity and  they want to express themselves. This is something that many people in the workplace crave – especially with the multi-generational workplace.”

What’s more, 84% of respondents reported to Udemy that their companies have started considering how to implement skills-based processes over the next year, with 75% stating that their company has implemented at least one process already.

Last but not least, the final focal area is understanding leadership’s role in Gen AI adoption. 

Udemy found a critical gap in leadership readiness, with 90% of employees stating that their leadership teams are key to successful Gen AI transformations. 

This being said, less than half (48%) feel that their leaders are currently equipped to manage this change.

Leaders need to receive the right support for upskilling,” Murphy concludes. “Leadership usually rolls out AI programs, but haven’t necessarily understood the fundamental aspects of the tool and change.

“So training on policies, limitations, and ethical implications, for example, are really important. A recent study we did also found that less than 50% of employees felt that their leadership was ready to lead AI initiative programs.

“For this reason, it’s really critical that businesses start with the leaders first, to create that sort of role model mentality.”