Key takeaways:
- Growth in immersive: In 2026, the VR and XR market will mature, delivering learning-science-backed experiences that build real-world skills.
- AI agents become collaborators: Agents shift from helpful tools to productive partners – managed and guided by human expertise.
- AI gives managers time – but leadership skills become crucial: AI tools might ease managers’ admin, but only human leadership skills can coach, inspire and build trust.
In 2025, AI moved from a supporting role to becoming a central part of the learning experience, powering personalised, flexible pathways. At Pearson, we introduced tools that make learning part of everyday life, like Communication Coach, which gives real-time tips on clarity and tone during meetings, and Revibe, an AI-enabled wearable that helps learners stay focused. We also rolled out AI study tools that boosted student engagement, and expanded literacy modules to help people use AI responsibly.
For 2026, change is a given. Technology is evolving faster than human skills can keep pace, making future-proofing skills and embracing continuous learning more important than ever. As we look to the year ahead, the priority is making learning systems accessible, intuitive, and future-ready. Below, three Pearson experts share the trends they expect will define the year:
Immersive learning: bringing education to life
“We are going to increasingly see the exploration of immersive learning, and how we can use Virtual Reality (VR) or Extended Reality (XR) to create tailored experiences to meet specific learning goals. The real potential comes from immersive learning which is backed by learning science and has clear pedagogical patterns: brief, targeted activities that reinforce concepts, whether through gamified exploration or realistic skill-building. The market will mature into offering both creative conceptual journeys and hands-on practice, making immersive learning a strategy for deepening understanding and building real-world skills.” - Dave Treat, Global Chief Technology Officer
Dave Treat
From passive to active: the shift to agentic systems
“At the beginning of the year, I said that this wasn’t the year of agents, and qualified it as being the decade of agents. 2025 was a whirlwind of announcements and incredible development, but adoption for real value will take a few more years yet. 2026 will continue at the same blistering pace and will be the year agentic AI shifts from a temperamental tool to a productive partner. In certain use cases, particularly coding, intelligent agents are moving from autocompleting repetitive work, to acting autonomously for longer periods, but still very much with human in the loop.
We can expect this to expand for greater collaboration with employees in different areas of the business, solving problems, streamlining workflows, and connecting data across business functions allowing employees to focus on higher value tasks and upskill onto the next level. However, the real differentiator won’t simply be early adoption. It will be organisations that learn to manage agents as part of the workforce, embedding them responsibly with the right standards, oversight and a commitment to upskilling people to direct, supervise and improve these systems over time.” - Jody Gajic, Director Pearson Labs
Jody Gajic
Honing leadership skills: increasingly vital for managers
From “Will AI replace managers?” to “Will managers know how to use the time AI gives them?
“As AI automates the administrative noise like status updates, scheduling, and reporting, great managers finally have the space to focus on what actually drives performance: real-time coaching, meaningful 1:1s, and building team capability. But not all managers will rise to the moment. Some will try to outsource the human parts of the job such as career, performance and development conversations to AI as well. That’s not delegation; it’s abdication. AI can write your updates. It cannot earn your team’s respect.” - Ali Bebo, Chief Human Resources Officer
Ali Bebo
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