From the foreword:

This year’s Global Sentiment Survey – the tenth – paints a picture that is both familiar and unusual. In our 2020 survey report, we noted that ‘Data dominates this year’s survey’. It does so again this year, with the near 4,000 respondents showing a strong interest in AI, Skills-based talent management and Learning analytics (in positions #2, #3 and #4), all of which rely on data. The table is topped by Reskilling/upskilling, in the #1 spot for the third year running.

While apparently familiar, these results are extremely odd. It is not usual for one idea (Reskilling/upskilling) to dominate the top of the table for so long. And just below the top spot is something even more unusual. Over time, ideas which were once hot lose their appeal. On the survey we see this as their share of votes declining over time. Yet both Learning analytics and AI have reversed that trend this year – AI quite spectacularly.

This is all very different to the results over the two years of the pandemic. In 2021 and 2022, lockdowns and a shift to online learning led to an uptick in in support for collaborative learning and coaching in contrast to the other, technology-focused options, all of which fell in support.

This year, that has been swept away by a tide of enthusiasm for AI, fuelled by the launch of ChatGPT, 8 days before the survey opened. This change of heart is evident not only in responses to our main question “What will be hot in workplace L&D in 2023?” but also in the free text answers to the question “What is your biggest L&D challenge in 2023?” Here, words associated with the pandemic were used less, and those around budget, value and impact far more.

It seems as if L&D has returned to the pre-pandemic normal of an interest in data and a concern to show value in order to secure budgets. But is this an illusion? Are we back to normal, or at a turning point?

This year, for the first time, we include a section on the interpretation of the Survey results. We don’t make untenable claims based on the Survey, but as it grows in popularity and reach, others may do. Please do read this section and approach claims made based on the Survey results with informed caution.

As always, we must end by thanking our sponsors. Without OpenSesame, Speexx, Netex, Learning Pool, getAbstract and Nomadic Learning, this survey would not have been possible. We look forward to continuing in 2024 with a survey that will be both wider in reach, and deeper in content.