How the professional training market is changing and what to expect in 2026
Today, the EdTech market is at a turning point. Over the past two years, interest in professional training has declined significantly — demand for online courses is falling, and engagement in paid and free programmes is declining.
However, offline events, where people can socialise with colleagues and share professional challenges, are attracting more and more people. This applies not only to industry conferences, but also to more intimate formats, such as private business breakfasts.
How AI and economic conditions are affecting the EdTech market
One of the key explanations for what is happening is the influence of artificial intelligence. Its development is changing the classic trajectory of professional development and career advancement.
Previously, the path to the next level took at least a year and involved the gradual accumulation of expert experience and mastery of professional tools. Now, if a person has learned to write clear prompts and has integrated AI into their work processes, they can solve problems at a level far above their grade — perhaps not perfectly, but quite sufficient for a business that lives in the ‘here and now’ mode. In the IT sector, for example, AI allows a junior employee to technically perform a senior-level task, albeit with significant logical gaps.
Thus, the ability to use AI becomes a separate skill. You don’t have to spend money on lengthy training programmes or follow the traditional path of growth; instead, you can hone your prompt engineering skills and use them to ‘jump’ to the next level.
This creates the impression that long development trajectories are not worthwhile, and that professional growth is now unnecessary, as it is sufficient to master AI tools.
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Treating AI as a way to solve a problem economically seems logical. But in the long run, this is quite dangerous — the focus shifts from the formation of expert knowledge and competencies to the use of technological ‘crutches,’ which, moreover, often provide factually incorrect information and do not take into account the specifics of the industry and the context of the situation.
In addition to AI, the demand for educational products is also influenced by the economic situation as a whole. Anything that can be dispensed with (and this category includes education) is easily dropped from the priorities of both businesses and individuals.
In addition, in recent years, the major EdTech players have already managed to ‘plough through’ the most motivated audience — those who were willing to study often, willingly and extensively. At the same time, the student audience itself is not growing: the number of new adult students is not increasing at the rate required by the market.
What people expect from learning
At the same time, another important change has taken place: people have had their fill of low-quality content.
Outdated video lectures, superficial programmes, lack of support during training — in the past, this worked because of the novelty of the format, but today, online learning is no longer perceived as a value in itself. Especially since you can request a brief summary on any topic from AI without buying another retelling course.
This leads to a simple conclusion: training in professional skills and competencies must provide something fundamentally valuable beyond the content itself.
In my opinion, this is expert insight and assessment, immersion in the context of the industry, and support in solving real-world problems. Technically, it is possible to have AI check homework and provide feedback to students, but in my opinion, this destroys the key value of learning — the unique insight and experience that only a human being can share.
