New research from O’Reilly, a leading source for insight-driven learning on technology and business, reveals that UK tech professionals are investing in the business and leadership skills needed to lead organisational change, with learning in transformation-focused topics outpacing global trends.
Analysis of O’Reilly platform usage between Q1 2025 and Q1 2026 shows Digital Transformation learning grew 185% in the UK year-on-year, making it one of the fastest-growing business topics on the platform.
The trend extends well beyond digital transformation; Business Strategy learning grew 66% year-on-year, Team Management increased 46%, Innovation-related learning rose 34%, and Leadership and Management overall grew 52%. Together these findings suggest UK professionals are investing not only in technical capability, but also in the organisational skills required to help businesses adapt to AI and wider digital transformation.
“What stands out isn’t simply that AI learning is growing,” said Alexia Pedersen, SVP International at O’Reilly. “UK tech professionals are investing in the skills that sit above the technology: how to lead through change, how to manage teams, how to think strategically about what transformation actually means for a business. It reflects a growing recognition that successful AI adoption isn’t just about understanding the technology. It’s also about leading change, managing teams and helping organisations adapt.”
The context: AI is part of the picture, but not the whole story
The business skills surge is happening alongside continued growth in AI learning. Generative AI content usage increased 89% in the UK year-on-year, while AI and Machine Learning overall grew 51%.
Rather than replacing technical learning, the data suggests UK professionals are broadening their development, combining AI capability with leadership, strategic thinking and transformation expertise. This combination points to a growing recognition that the success of AI initiatives depends as much on organisational readiness as technical implementation.
“The biggest challenge organisations face with AI is rarely deploying the technology,” Pedersen continued. “It’s helping teams adopt new ways of working, building confidence, and ensuring technology delivers measurable business value. The UK’s learning trends suggest organisations increasingly understand that successful AI adoption is ultimately a leadership and change management challenge.”
Additional findings include:
The overall Business category as a whole grew 12% in the UK year-on-year, indicating sustained demand for business-focused capability alongside technical learning.
Digital Transformation sessions increased 122% year-on-year, closely mirroring the 185% growth in usage hours for the same topic and pointing to both more learners engaging with the content and those learners spending significantly more time on it.
Leadership and Management learning grew 52% year-on-year, while Team Management sessions increased 46%, highlighting continued investment in leadership capability.
Innovation learning grew 34% year-on-year, pointing to increasing interest in creative problem-solving alongside technical capability.
Pedersen concluded: “Much of the conversation around workforce development focuses on AI skills. Those skills are important, but our data suggests UK organisations are thinking more broadly about what successful transformation requires. The ability to lead change, think strategically and help adopt new technologies is becoming just as important as understanding the technology itself. That’s a positive sign for organisations looking to turn AI investment into long-term business value.”
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