As companies move from experimenting with generative AI to embedding AI agents and automation into everyday operations, the harder problem is increasingly human: building a workforce capable of using the technology effectively. Brillio is tackling that challenge through an internal AI talent development program that has now won two Gold 2026 HCM Excellence Awards from Brandon Hall Group.
The recognition covers two categories: Best Unique or Innovative Learning and Development Program and Best Learning Program Supporting a Change Transformation Business Strategy. Both awards recognize Brillio’s AI Native Talent Development program, which the company designed to move employees beyond basic AI awareness and into role-specific, hands-on capability.
Brandon Hall Group announced its 2026 HCM Excellence Award winners on August 13, with entries evaluated by independent senior industry experts, analysts and practitioners against criteria including business alignment, program design, adoption, innovation, effectiveness and measurable impact.
Brillio’s approach is notable because it treats AI upskilling as an operating-model issue rather than simply an HR learning initiative.
The company says the program reached roughly 5,500 employees across six countries: India, the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Romania. It is organized around 40 role-specific personas spanning technical, delivery, sales, leadership and business functions.
Instead of giving every employee the same AI curriculum, Brillio mapped the capabilities each persona would need in an AI-native enterprise and assessed the gap between current and desired proficiency. Learning then moved through three stages: conceptual instruction, hands-on experimentation in preconfigured AI Virtual Machine environments, and validated assessment.
That distinction matters as enterprises rethink what “AI readiness” actually means.
A conventional corporate learning program can demonstrate that employees completed a course. It does not necessarily demonstrate that an engineer can use an AI coding assistant effectively, that a sales professional can incorporate AI into account planning, or that an operations leader understands where an intelligent agent can safely automate part of a workflow.
Brillio’s model attempts to measure the latter.
The company says approximately 5,500 employees participated in its first wave, producing an engagement rate of about 90% across the 40 personas. It also established an organization-wide AI capability baseline for technical and nontechnical employees, with average AI Native Scores approaching an internal target of 90%.
Those figures are company-reported rather than an independent assessment of productivity gains, so they should be viewed as evidence of program adoption and capability measurement rather than proof that the training directly produced financial returns.
The broader workforce trend supports the underlying problem Brillio is trying to solve. McKinsey’s 2025 research found that organizations using AI had already begun reskilling portions of their workforces, while respondents expected substantially more AI-related reskilling over the following three years. A separate McKinsey survey found that 75% of U.S. workers expect their roles to change because of AI within five years, while only 45% had recently participated in an upskilling program.
That gap puts HR and learning teams in a different position than they occupied during earlier waves of enterprise software adoption.
AI skills are no longer limited to data scientists and machine-learning engineers. Knowledge workers increasingly need enough fluency to evaluate AI output, work with copilots and agents, understand data and security constraints, and redesign processes around automation.
This is where Brillio’s persona-based model differs from the broad AI literacy programs offered through traditional learning management systems and online training platforms. Providers across the HR technology market—including learning experience platforms, skills intelligence systems and corporate academies—are increasingly moving toward skills-based development. Brillio is effectively applying that philosophy to AI transformation inside its own workforce.
The model also resembles a broader shift occurring across the enterprise technology ecosystem. Companies such as Microsoft, Salesforce and Adobe are embedding generative AI and agentic capabilities into business applications. As those tools become part of mainstream workflows, enterprises need employees who can understand not just how to access an AI feature, but when and where it should be used.
For enterprise HR leaders, that changes the definition of workforce planning.
AI training increasingly needs to connect to job architecture, performance expectations, governance and business processes. Learning teams may need to work alongside IT, data, security and business-unit leaders to determine which skills matter, how proficiency is measured and how frequently those skills must be refreshed.
Brillio says the program is already attracting external interest, with a global financial services institution approaching the company about adapting the model for its own workforce. That does not establish the program as a market standard, but it points to a potentially larger opportunity: enterprises may increasingly seek repeatable frameworks for building AI capability at scale rather than assembling disconnected courses from multiple vendors.
The awards therefore matter less as a technology launch than as a signal about where HRTech and enterprise AI are converging.
The next phase of AI adoption will not be determined solely by access to models, cloud infrastructure or AI platforms. Organizations will also need systems for developing the people responsible for deploying those technologies. Brillio’s program offers one example of that emerging workforce architecture—one built around roles, practical application and measurable capability rather than course completion alone.
Market Landscape
The enterprise AI market is moving from experimentation toward operational adoption, creating a parallel demand for AI workforce transformation, skills intelligence and continuous learning.
Traditional LMS platforms remain important systems of record, but enterprises increasingly need learning environments that connect training with specific job capabilities. That creates room for HRTech vendors spanning learning experience platforms, talent marketplaces, skills taxonomies, workforce analytics and AI coaching.
The competitive question is shifting from How many employees completed AI training? to Which employees can demonstrate AI proficiency in the workflows that matter?
That distinction could influence how enterprises evaluate vendors. A modern AI talent program may need to combine role-based skills mapping, practical sandbox environments, assessments, governance and ongoing measurement. It also needs to accommodate rapid changes in AI tools, particularly as agentic systems evolve faster than traditional annual training cycles.
McKinsey’s research reinforces the urgency: workers expect significant changes to their roles, while formal upskilling has not yet kept pace.
For HR leaders, the implication is straightforward: AI adoption and workforce development can no longer be managed as separate transformation programs.
Top Insights
- Brillio won two Gold HCM Excellence Awards for an AI talent program spanning 5,500 employees, highlighting the shift toward role-specific enterprise AI skills.
- Its 40-persona framework combines conceptual learning, AI Virtual Machine practice and assessments, giving HR teams a model beyond conventional course-completion metrics.
- Approximately 90% engagement in Brillio’s first wave suggests strong workforce participation, although independent evidence of productivity or financial impact remains limited.
- McKinsey research shows a widening AI skills challenge, with workers anticipating role changes faster than organizations are delivering formal upskilling programs.
- Enterprise HR teams will increasingly need AI skills frameworks connecting learning, job architecture, governance, workforce analytics and business transformation.
Join thousands of HR leaders who rely on HRTechEdge for the latest in workforce technology, AI-driven HR solutions, and strategic insights
