Education systems spent 2025 experimenting with AI while getting clearer about what really matters for learners. Leaders across K–12, higher education, and workforce learning focused on what improves teaching, strengthens persistence, and delivers meaningful outcomes for learners and workers. Below are five trends shaping the year ahead.
Responsible, workflow-first AI deployment.
Education institutions continued experimenting with targeted AI use cases in 2025, with iteration increasingly centered on measurable value. The clearest gains came from practical applications: course design support, teacher productivity, streamlined instructional and administrative workflows, and structured student-support tasks that improved engagement or targeted instructional help. National pilots in South Korea and India, alongside university governance labs and partnerships such as Pearson–Microsoft, reflect a shift toward AI that is governed, verifiable, and embedded in existing workflows. In 2026, expect greater focus on ethics, transparency, agentic use cases, and proven instructional benefit over broad personalization promises.
Figure 1. How Universities Can Better Prepare Students For the Advancement of Generative AI
Engagement and well-being re-emerged as core indicators of value.
Learner engagement re-emerged as a central indicator of value, increasingly considered alongside well-being, participation, and other “human” factors that shape persistence. As AI takes on more classroom and workflow tasks, systems doubled down on what technology seemingly cannot replicate: motivation, connection, and purpose.
Countries piloted AI companions with strict boundaries (UK, Greece), Europe implemented phone bans to reduce distraction, and both the U.S. and Indonesia expanded career-connected learning to reinforce relevance. In workforce learning, immersive and in-flow training models supported motivation and agency. As AI becomes commonplace, human-driven indicators such as engagement, well-being, and sustained participation are becoming more important, not less.
Figure 2. Percentage of Teachers using AI tools in education, 2024
Digital infrastructure quietly strengthens systems.
2025 brought steady, less visible progress in digital infrastructure. Institutions focused on strengthening shared data layers, identity management, interoperability, and governance frameworks. Cloud partnerships with AWS, Google, and OpenAI supported more consistent and scalable environments, while regions such as Europe and Brazil advanced more coordinated national efforts.
These shifts are making digital ecosystems more coherent and dependable, with integrated platforms increasingly viewed as table stakes for modern education environments. Partnerships remain central, and momentum is expected to continue into 2026 as institutions raise expectations for coordination across learning, assessment, credentialing, and analytics.
The rise of the skills economy.
Measurable and discrete skills continued gaining prominence across education systems, cutting across sectors and regions. Governments expanded early-career pathways, universities deepened industry-aligned microcredentials, and employers accelerated in-flow-of-work learning. Real-time skills visibility, adaptive training, and competency frameworks gained traction, while career navigation tools spread across K–12, post-secondary, and workforce contexts.
This shift is global but uneven: South Asia scaled technical apprenticeships, Europe sharpened workforce alignment, North America expanded applied learning, and emerging markets invested in modular, job-relevant training. The skills movement is shaping policy, procurement, and institutional priorities.
Figure 3. Market Map: Skills Intelligence Market Map
