Budget season is here.
And the question isn¡¯t whether your team needs AI training. It¡¯s whether your budget covers the right kind of AI training.
Across industries, leaders are racing to prove ROI on their AI bets. Yet according to a recent MIT study, 95% of AI pilots fail. Not because the technology isn¡¯t powerful, but because adoption often stalls at the pilot phase.
When training is too thin or too general¡ªwhether self-paced modules, vendor add-ons, or broad ¡®AI 101¡¯ videos¡ªemployees have a difficult time translating knowing into doing.
The result? Persisting narrow use cases and limited measurable ROI, ultimately slowing momentum.
If you¡¯re staring down budget conversations right now, the message from peers is clear: the right investment in AI training pays for itself.
What does smart AI training investment look like?
At GA, we¡¯ve seen that budgets that generate meaningful ROI share one trait¡ªtraining designed for authentic adoption and long-term value.
A healthy AI training budget covers three essentials:
- Foundational literacy. Every employee needs a baseline to understand what AI is¡ªand what it isn¡¯t. This reduces fear, clarifies misconceptions, and fosters a shared language across functions.
- Role-specific training. Generic, one-size-fits-all courses rarely create sustained workflow change. Instructor-led, role-based programs embed AI into real daily work¡ªwhether that¡¯s drafting legal briefs, creating product roadmaps, or analyzing supply chain data.
- Hands-on practice. Adoption accelerates when teams move from theory to practice. Teams need dedicated time to apply AI to real work, experiment, and learn through trial and error. This is the bridge from ¡°concept¡± to ¡°behavior change.¡±
Leaders who budgeted for ILT and hands-on labs saw employees move from ¡°curious¡± to ¡°confident.¡± As Learning Scientist and GA AI Future Skills Board Member Matthew Ventura, PhD, reminds us:
You¡¯ll know you¡¯ve invested enough if performance in the training predicts real-world performance.
That¡¯s the litmus test: does your training budget drive behavior change employees can use tomorrow?
The Stakes: Turning Spend into Lasting Value
Leaders told us the same story again and again: they invested in AI, but employees didn¡¯t change their workflows. One HR director summed it up: ¡°We checked the box, but we didn¡¯t see the needle move.¡±
Without role-specific training, teams stay stuck in their routine processes and workflows. The cost of not getting it right is real. As Ventura puts it:
Delay hands-on training on these tools and you won¡¯t just fall behind, you¡¯ll hand your competitors the advantage. Every day lost shows up in lower efficiency against the rest of the sector.
In other words, the budget decision isn¡¯t just about training. It¡¯s about whether your teams will keep up¡ªor fall behind.
Peer proof: How leaders secured the right AI training budgets
Leaders who won budget battles didn¡¯t lead with ¡°shiny tech.¡± They framed the business case around four key metrics: cost of inaction, productivity gains, workflow transformation, and responsibility.
- Cost of inaction. Another GA Future Skills Board member said: ¡°We made the case by showing leadership the productivity loss we were already seeing compared to competitors.
- Productivity and efficiency. Workers save hours when they know how to embed AI into tasks. Ventura points to efficiency as the best ROI signal: ¡°You can see the value by measuring the time savings for specific tasks and getting clear documentation on how AI is saving time.¡±
- Workflow change. At a leading publishing company, leaders greenlit AI for Product Managers training last year. Their VP described the results: ¡°It not only pushed employees out of their comfort zone and strengthened team connectivity, it also drove real, immediate adoption of the practical skills learned to create valuable workflow transformation.¡±
- Responsibility. Our Future Skills Board members also flagged accountability as part of the case. As one leader put it: ¡°AI training isn¡¯t an optional benefit¡ªit¡¯s a requirement if we want adoption to stick and culture to evolve.¡±
Across cases, the winning argument was less about the cost of training itself and more about the value of adoption, behavior change, and measurable savings.
Take action & make your budget work harder in 2026
AI training in 2026 is no longer a nice-to-have. It¡¯s a strategic line item that can determine whether new AI tools and ways of working deliver enterprise value.
The leaders securing the budget aren¡¯t overspending¡ªthey¡¯re right-spending. They¡¯re moving beyond check-the-box training and investing in adoption, workflow change, and measurable savings.
And we¡¯re here to help budget owners and influencers win these conversations. We provide the peer proof, data, and methodology to turn AI training from an expense into a true transformation lever.
Explore what smart AI training could look like for your teams¡ªand how to make it budget-ready with our AI Academy.