Why CIOs Must Embed Continuous, Work-Based Learning to Drive True Digital Transformation

As AI accelerates change across every industry, organisations are pouring money into the latest tools, but far too often neglect a critical success factor: their people. The result? Without a focus on continuous, work-based learning, businesses may find themselves stuck, investing in transformation but repeatedly running into the same skill gaps year after year.

The hidden barrier to transformation: outdated models holding CIOs back

CIOs are often expected to lead sweeping digital transformations, yet they are frequently hampered not by technology but by outdated workforce training methods. Traditional training models treat learning as a periodic event, with formal training sessions removed from daily tasks. This disconnection between training and real work causes slow transformation progress and damages employee engagement.

Instead, organisations would benefit from embedding integrated, continuous, and almost invisible learning directly into workflows. This model fosters adaptability, builds consensus, and accelerates outcomes. Without it, “transformation fatigue” sets in. In fact, research from Emergn shows that employees in large US and UK firms report burnout, declining morale, and even thoughts of leaving when change slows or education feels disconnected.

Today, employees are increasingly preferring training to be intertwined with current projects. So, the question is, how can CIOs make learning part of everyday work? It starts with learning by doing, taking bitesize challenges, mastering new real-world skills, and immediately applying them.

This approach replaces traditional, slide-based sessions with agile coaching, peer mentoring, and learning embedded in active teams. It’s the same philosophy that powers stream-aligned, cross-functional teams where members from IT, product, and business solve real problems together. According to Gartner, 71% of organisations using this model meet or exceed transformation goals compared with just 48% otherwise.

Why embedded learning matters now more than ever

Employees expect ongoing, on-the-job development. When organisations don’t deliver, the results are clear, and workers in large organisations increasingly consider leaving due to feeling burned-out during change.

Moreover, lack of learning squanders innovation. AI, automation, and new tools demand fresh skills and a mindset that empowers people to evolve alongside technology. Without this, executives will invest in new platforms only to find skill deficiencies stalling progress. AI tools won’t drive value unless people can adapt their approaches, embed feedback loops, and reshape processes—and that requires learning as they go. So, what does a forward-looking learning strategy look like?

To be truly effective, learning must be human-centred, prioritising employee needs just as much as technical requirements and designing programmes that empower rather than burden. It should be value-focused, with learning objectives clearly aligned to measurable business outcomes, ensuring that training drives real impact rather than existing for its own sake. Learning should be integrated into workflows, organised around projects rather than traditional classrooms, using agile squads, pair coaching, and just-in-time mentoring. Finally, as digital tools evolve rapidly, learning must continuously adapt in step, remaining relevant and responsive to technological change.

Training is no longer static—it’s dynamic, practical, and measurable. Whether mastering new cloud architecture or using AI responsibly, employees need context-embedded guidance, not obsolete workshops.

Adopting a product mindset: making learning continuous

Too many CIOs react to skill gaps by rolling out occasional mandatory courses that fail to resonate.

Instead, organisations should trade rigid change cycles for continuous learning loops. A product-centric mindset replaces these cycles with continuous learning loops. Rooted in lean and agile principles, this approach fosters closer collaboration between HR and IT by embedding change into everyday work rather than treating it as an add-on. Grounded in outcome alignment and customer-centric design, product thinking enables organisations to adapt more sustainably.

According to McKinsey, firms that invest in product management capabilities achieve a 20% faster time-to-market for AI-driven solutions, with 85% of high performers linking product training to broader business value. By adopting these principles, teams can reduce friction, enhance adaptability, and deliver AI solutions that are both technically robust and seamlessly integrated into how people work.

Effective learning in the workplace can be enhanced through micro learning moments—short, practical modules embedded directly into tools like Slack, JIRA, or project management systems, triggered at relevant times such as during a new feature rollout.

Mentor-driven workflows also play a key role, with senior engineers or product leads shadowing new hires and sharing habits and patterns in the context of real tasks. Additionally, embedding feedback loops into daily work ensures that learning remains a visible, actionable, and integrated part of delivery rather than an optional add-on.

This ensures that education accelerates transformation rather than delaying it, creating fast feedback loops that emerge from real work.

Driving ROI: when learning fuels real transformation

Organisations that embed learning into their culture can realise a range of benefits. Accelerated time to value ensures shorter paths from deployment to measurable impact. Higher adoption rates follow when engagement is intrinsic, driven by relevance rather than external incentives. Lower turnover is another advantage, as employees who are supported to grow on the job remain motivated and committed. Importantly, greater innovation emerges from teams that are equipped to learn continuously as they are best positioned to lead in a rapidly evolving landscape.

A CIO’s value hinges on results like measurable improvements to revenue, productivity, and innovation. A modern learning strategy delivers that and avoids repeating past failures.

In 2025, CIOs must go beyond AI hype or toolboxes. Success will depend on their ability to foster a culture of embedded learning. This is done by emphasising that transformation fatigue is not caused by technology, but by a lack of continuous, integrated education.

Treating learning as separate from work leads to resistance, wasted investment, and uninspired talent. Shift to human-centred, value-focused, and evolving-with-change on-the-job learning and you enable sustainable transformation. Businesses gain agility; employees gain purpose. And the CIO? They become not just a tech provider, but a strategic leader capable of driving real, lasting change across the enterprise.