PROCUREMENT MAGAZINE WHITEPAPER
INTRODUCTION
The post-AI reality check
If 2025 was the year of the“ AI hype cycle,” 2026 is the year of strategic agility. Twelve months ago, boardrooms across the globe were awash with predictions that generative AI would render human support teams obsolete. Companies banked on total automation, anticipating a frictionless, algorithm-led future.
The Training Multiplier: Employees with
81 +
hours of annual AI training save
14
hours per week, while those with under four hours save only 3 hours
The reality, however, has been a sharp correction. While AI has undoubtedly transformed efficiency, the market has pivoted towards a“ human-in-theloop” model, recognising that complex problem-solving and empathetic customer engagement cannot be fully surrendered to code.
EY believes that organisations now operate in an ecosystem where human and AI intelligence co-evolve – each shaping and refining the other through continuous interaction.
AI is a vital part of the workforce’ s tools, as EY’ s Work Reimagined 2025 study reveals. It found that 83 % of employees using AI daily are confident their current skills will remain relevant in three years’ time, compared to only 67 % of those who use AI occasionally.
Employees with 81 or more hours of AI training per year save 14 hours per week, compared to just three hours for those with fewer than four hours of training. Tellingly, Gen Z are twice as likely as Baby Boomers to receive this level of training. Which has led to the core challenge of skills expiring faster than traditional training can update them, creating“ Talent Debt”.
The solution is building“ colearning organisations” through three interconnected elements: sterling-outsourcing. com