The L&D Global Sentiment Survey 2026 came out last week and massive respect to Donald H. Taylor yet again for wrangling 3,797 replies across 105 countries and 13 years of data.

The headline is that AI interest has peaked, but for me the real story sits underneath.

Practitioners are writing more than ever about their challenges – over 40,000 words. “Doing more with less” appears repeatedly. References to pressure, redundancies and the “human element” are rising, suggesting the profession is questioning its own role. At the same time, respondents report using AI daily: content creation, personalisation, and coaching support. The work is getting done.

Here is what the survey cannot see.

Much of this AI use is likely personal and invisible to the organisation. It’s ChatGPT on a phone and Claude in a browser tab. There is no governance, audit trail or organisational visibility. This is BYOAI (Bring Your Own AI)

In many organisations this creates a trap.

L&D is under pressure to demonstrate value while budgets are cut. Individuals are using AI to cope, and their output holds. The organisation concludes the current resourcing is sufficient, so pressure increases, and the cycle repeats.

The more effectively you cope, the more you signal that the function can operate at reduced capacity. You undermine your own case for investment by succeeding. Even if productivity gains were visible, the outcome might not change. “Doing more with less” often invites “good, here is less again.” Efficiency in a cost-centre function is rarely a route to strategic recognition; it is often a route to further cuts.

The only credible exit is to stop playing the efficiency game.

The case for L&D cannot rest on faster content, more courses or fewer people. That is a race to the bottom, and AI will always win. The case has to rest on something the business cannot ignore:

• diagnosing capability gaps that affect strategic priorities
• removing performance constraints
• connecting workforce development to outcomes leadership cares about

The survey shows a profession accelerating operational activity while lacking a stable strategic model.

That is not managed transformation; it is coping. The question is no longer how L&D works faster. It is whether it is willing to redefine its mandate.

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