Leadership
Like most industries today, life sciences stands at a crossroads. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are transforming how work gets done — affecting everything from sales and marketing to clinical development and regulatory processes. These shifts are more than just technological; they represent a fundamental change in the skills and capabilities required across organizations and will likely have dramatic consequences for the workforce at large.
In 2025, companies are racing to build AI agents — tools capable of autonomously achieving a range of goals. In the short term, this will enhance workforce productivity through AI assistants. Over time, as AI becomes more sophisticated and deeply integrated into daily operations, job roles will evolve, some will disappear and entirely new ones will emerge.
According to the recent Jobs Report from the World Economic Forum, “on average, workers can expect that 39% of their existing skill sets will be transformed or become outdated over the 2025- 2030 period.”
For learning leaders, this is not just another training challenge; it’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
Every learning leader should be proactively identifying how workforce requirements are changing, with a plan to accelerate workforce development.
For example, in collaboration with HR, the GE Healthcare learning team surveyed recent data and positioning papers, and will require two key skill areas:
Intentional skills: Critical thinking, strategic analysis, communication and social influence — all essential for building trust and collaboration.
Adaptive skills: Agility, a growth mindset and comfort with risk-taking — being willing to experiment and learn from failure while still adhering to company regulations.
Building on this work, they recognized gaps and created a plan for targeted upskilling.
It’s important to note that AI is driving an evolution in thinking on skills and competencies. Even before ChatGPT made AI accessible to all, skills-based approaches were becoming more popular, seen as more agile and scalable than competency-based ones.
As agentic AI is largely designed through identification of desired tasks and outcomes, there is now debate about the usefulness even of skill-based approaches. But it is hard to imagine a world where skills, especially intentional and adaptive skills, but also many technical, will not continue to play an important role in the future of workforce development.
Instead of imagining a future where AI does everything while we sit idle, it’s important to continue having thoughtful discussions to ensure AI is implemented responsibly and effectively, and we are using the efficiency gains to achieve loftier goals through the human-AI workforce.
AI and automation will unlock more time for creativity, innovation and strategic thinking. L&D teams are already leveraging AI to enhance learner experiences. This should expand significantly.
This is an exciting time for L&D. Just 10 years ago our roles were centered on big-stage training events and in-person meetings to refine sales messaging. Today, the game is changing. The pandemic forced rapid digital transformation, but now we have a critical window to proactively shape the future. The question is: What steps are we taking today to ensure we’re ready for what’s next?
Consider how people use YouTube for problem-solving: They search for a solution, watch a tutorial and often get recommended additional content that deepens understanding. Imagine replicating that experience in corporate learning — a single, intuitive hub where employees can access personalized learning at the moment of need. Taking this one step further, imagine a world where every employee gets personalized learning and coaching in the flow of work, in the moment of need.
Reimagining a new and more powerful learning experience isn’t just about earning a seat at the leadership table — it’s about becoming an indispensable partner in business success.
Today, as we look inward to our own learning teams, we must prioritize agility. Our L&D team members need to be versatile — able to play multiple roles rather than specialize in a single function. The more adaptable someone is, the more value they bring to the business at a time of transformation and change.
GE Healthcare recognized that leveraging team strengths not only benefits organizations but also keeps employees engaged by fostering a growth mindset. Knowing that AI is integral to its products and operations, GE wanted a dedicated expert to optimize use and established a learning leader for AI on the team, reflecting how quickly AI is reshaping learning and development.
Traditional organizational structures don’t always keep pace with business needs, so it’s best to take a fluid approach, continuously assessing how to add value. In this case, GE Healthcare was fortunate to have Kevin Clemence on the team — someone with a deep passion for AI who stepped into the AI learning leader role. What started as an internal initiative has now expanded globally, demonstrating the value of integrating AI expertise within L&D.
Learning leaders are given a team and fluid business objectives to support. Their role is to maximize, ideate and play with the strengths on the team to elevate L&D as a strategic partner to the business.
There’s still no consensus on how to best measure the success of AI adoption and workforce evolution efforts. In terms of AI adoption, while early adopters spent time learning AI’s inner workings, the real focus now is on its practical impact. How does it make us more efficient, adaptable and impactful?
At GE Healthcare, a simple measure of progress currently is engagement. In early AI discussions, only a handful of employees may have participated. Today, everyone gets involved. Set a goal for AI to become seamlessly embedded into your ways of working.
When it comes to measuring the effectiveness of broader workforce development goals, efficiency and productivity measures will be important, but it’s important not to lose sight of the big picture. How much more ambitious can the organization be in setting goals? How much more innovative? What skills are driving these successes and how much has the learning team moved the needle?
When it comes to leadership and colleagues in most organizations, not everyone has been immediately on board with AI. Some employees are skeptical, others tried AI once and didn’t see the benefit and some managers feel exhausted by it – they aren’t sure what it means for them, and they must navigate resistance from team members.
The key is to showcase tangible use cases and integrate AI into everyday conversations. When people see how AI enhances their work, skepticism often turns into curiosity and, eventually, adoption.
Keeping employees motivated to upskill is all about the culture. How do we create a culture of learning and what would that look like? Make it relevant. Resist mandates. Encourage room for play and embrace trial and error.
As the workforce evolves there will continue to be more fundamental changes to manage, including the role of the human worker, the skills, tasks and outcomes that will be most essential, and helping teams get more comfortable with the pace of change itself.
This moment calls for bold leadership in L&D. Those who embrace the challenge will not only elevate their learning function but also help define the future of work in life sciences.
Kristy Callahan is head of learning and development at GE HealthCare. Email her at kristy.callahan@ gehealthcare.com or connect through linkedin.com/in/kristy-callahan-81ba29a.
Jessica Knox is CEO of Metrix. Email her at jknox@metrixgroup.com or connect through linkedin.com/in/knoxjessica.
