The Productivity Paradox: When AI Adoption Outpaces Human Performance
Organizations face a troubling disconnect. AI implementation is accelerating across enterprises, yet workforce productivity and engagement continue to stagnate. This gap reveals a fundamental challenge: technology alone cannot bridge persistent capability deficits or reverse declining employee performance. The promise of AI-driven transformation remains largely unrealized because most organizations lack the skills infrastructure, cultural alignment, and strategic frameworks to convert technological investment into measurable human outcomes.
Degreed’s LENS 2026 conference, scheduled for March 3-4, 2026 in Orlando, Florida, addresses this tension directly. The event convenes senior HR, learning, and talent leaders to examine how AI, skills-centric strategies, and evidence-based work practices can drive performance without compromising trust, innovation, or organizational culture.
Bridging the Gap Between AI Novelty and Business Impact
The conference agenda tackles the central question facing enterprises today: how to transform AI from experimental tool to proven performance driver. Sessions will explore closing capability gaps through skills intelligence, rethinking what constitutes valuable business outcomes in an AI-augmented environment, and equipping employees to work productively alongside machine intelligence.
LENS 2026 offers practical guidance on leveraging skills data, personalization strategies, and AI sentiment analysis to deliver results amid constrained labor markets and rapid technological change. The programming emphasizes operationalizing skills at scale, applying AI responsibly across talent lifecycles, and connecting learning initiatives directly to workforce planning and business objectives.
Industry Leaders Confront Workforce Transformation Challenges
The speaker lineup reflects the cross-functional nature of modern workforce challenges. Sol Rashidi, recognized as the world’s first Chief AI Officer, brings executive-level perspective on AI governance and implementation. Whitney Johnson, CEO of Disruption Advisors and bestselling author, will address organizational change and individual adaptation patterns.
Global practitioners including Aadesh Goyal, former Global CHRO at Tata Communications, and Chris Harry, Chief Talent and Learning Officer at TEKsystems, will share strategies deployed across complex, distributed workforces. Learning leaders from Pernod Ricard, Tenaris, ZS, Booz Allen Hamilton, McKinsey & Company, Phillips 66, and Yara International will present case studies demonstrating skills intelligence in action.
Matt Sigelman, President of the Burning Glass Institute, will provide labor market data and workforce analytics essential for evidence-based talent strategy. These voices represent organizations navigating the same fundamental challenge: converting AI potential into sustainable competitive advantage through human capability development.
From Disruption to Durable Advantage
Degreed executives will outline frameworks for building adaptive, future-ready workforces with emphasis on productivity measurement, learning personalization, and demonstrable business impact. The sessions promise product innovations, customer insights, and operational blueprints for enterprises committed to skills-based transformation.
“AI alone won’t fix productivity challenges,” stated David Blake, CEO of Degreed. “LENS 2026 will focus on how organizations can combine AI, skills intelligence, and learning to unlock human capability at scale, and turn disruption into durable advantage.”
The conference positions skills data as the connective tissue between technological capability and human performance. Registration is open at events.degreed.com/LENS2026 for organizations seeking practical approaches to workforce transformation that balance automation with capability development.
About Degreed
Degreed is the leading AI-powered learning system for enterprise workforce transformation. With conversational, AI-native learning experiences, adaptive content, cohort academies, and dynamic pathways, you can hyper-personalize development for future roles and enable your workforce to adapt to the next big change. Learn more at www.degreed.com.
