In today’s breakneck business environment, knowing a lot isn’t enough—it’s about how quickly you can learn more. That’s the key takeaway from Pacesetters in the Superworker Age, a sweeping new workforce study from The Josh Bersin Company, which analyzed over a billion talent and career data points from Eightfold to uncover what truly separates top performers in the age of AI.
The four-year study, spanning six core industries—healthcare, consumer banking, CPG, pharma, automotive manufacturing, and insurance—identifies six common practices driving success in what Bersin calls the “Superworker Age.” And spoiler alert: it’s not about headcount or credentials. It’s about skills velocity—how fast your teams can build, refresh, and deploy new skills in response to emerging challenges and opportunities.
Let’s break it down.
Learning at the Speed of Business
Across all sectors, the highest-performing companies—dubbed “pacesetters”—weren’t those with the most skilled workers on paper. Instead, they were the fastest to develop, apply, and scale new skills. Think of it as workforce metabolism: high-performing organizations have higher “skills metabolism” than their peers, allowing them to pivot faster, innovate quicker, and adapt in real time.
Forget traditional change management and check-the-box training programs. This is about continuous reinvention.
The Six Secrets of Pacesetter Organizations
The report outlines six structural practices that enable companies to master rapid skills development in the AI-driven workplace:
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AI for Growth, Not Just Efficiency
Top companies aren’t just using AI to automate—they’re augmenting human capabilities. Employees are being trained to work alongside AI, not be replaced by it, helping drive innovation and customer experience, not just cost cuts. -
Innovation Is Everyone’s Job
Organizations are embedding AI-driven learning into the fabric of daily work. A global beverage giant, for example, has launched internal academies with custom learning journeys, pairing AI with leadership and supply chain training. -
Work Redesign > Org Charts
A leading Dutch bank ditched traditional hierarchies for Agile squads and product-based teams. Job titles are now skill-based roles. Meetings are “rituals.” The result? Higher productivity, tech talent retention, and well-being. -
Talent Density Beats Talent Quantity
One U.S. healthcare provider revamped its hiring to emphasize complementary, evolving skill sets, attracting talent through career mobility programs. Over half of new hires cited these paths as a key reason for joining. -
From Change Management to Agility
“Change management” is too slow for today’s velocity. Pacesetters embed agility into the core of their workforce strategy, making upskilling and reskilling a perpetual state. -
AI-Powered Systemic HR®
Forward-thinking HR teams are transforming into AI-first engines of growth. A global biotech firm even launched a company-wide AI capability academy—not just for engineers or researchers, but every single employee.
Skills Velocity: The Only Skill That Matters?
“The ‘skills-based organization’ was a good concept, but too static,” says Josh Bersin, CEO and lead analyst. “What drives results now is how quickly you can build, apply, and evolve skills.”
It’s a stark contrast to traditional models that valued static experience over agility. In today’s market, relevance evolves by the month, and the winners are those who can retool on the fly.
Adds Kathi Enderes, SVP of Research at The Josh Bersin Company: “High skills velocity gives you ongoing relevance and the agility to seize market opportunities. Success is no longer about knowing a lot—it’s about learning fast and adapting faster.”
Implications for HR and Tech Leaders
For HR tech vendors, learning platform providers, and CHROs, the report is a clarion call: static learning systems won’t cut it. If your infrastructure isn’t helping people build and apply new skills at speed, it’s already outdated.
And for companies chasing digital transformation, don’t just look at AI adoption. Ask whether your people systems are moving at the same pace.
In a world of constant disruption, speed is strategy. Organizations that focus on skills velocity—the rate at which they can build and deploy new capabilities—are best positioned to lead in the AI age.
The good news? The roadmap is clearer than ever. The bad news? If you’re not already building for speed, your competitors likely are.
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