From Course Completion to Business Outcomes
Discover with Roman Muth, CTO at Scheer IMC, the latest insights of the State of Learning Technology Report 2026
The 2026 State of Learning Technology Report marks a definitive shift: enterprise learning is no longer about managing content, but about driving measurable business impact. As organizations move toward AI-driven services and consolidated tech stacks, the challenge has shifted from simply "having" the technology to making it work within complex corporate ecosystems.
To explore how leaders can navigate this transition, we asked Roman Muth, CTO at Scheer IMC, to discuss the report’s most critical findings. In our Q&A, he shares his perspective on why data "plumbing" is often the biggest bottleneck to ROI and how to transform skill visibility into a strategic advantage. Discover how to move beyond activity tracking toward a sustainable, outcome-oriented operating model.
1. If you had to summarise this year’s report in one shift, what is it and why does it matter now?
Deliver AI services that truly matter. Customers expect tangible results from these new emerging technologies or possibilities.
2. We’re seeing learning stacks consolidate around an LMS backbone. What’s driving consolidation and what mistakes do organisations make when they try to simplify?
L&D leaders need a comprehensive overview of all learning activities, including current progress and future planning or demands. While a central LMS can consolidate this data, a distributed system architecture makes it more challenging to aggregate information and make informed global decisions.
3. Measurement is moving from activity to outcomes. In practice, what does ‘good’ look like and what’s the first step to getting there?
In the end, training is done to be more productive and prepared for the future. On one hand, customers should be able to track and see which skills and competencies are available in the company; on the other hand, companies require more insight to see what training needs to be provided in the future to remain competitive.
4. The report suggests ROI is blocked less by intent and more by ‘plumbing’. Where do you most often see organisations get stuck: data, alignment, or capability?
Linking data from different business systems is not easy. Showing the relationship between sales success and the successful completion of a training module requires the technical capability to connect the relevant data (sales and training) as well as knowledge of their relationship.
5. Skills programmes are mainstream, but skills visibility is still the bottleneck. What are the two or three building blocks leaders should put in place to make skills ‘actionable’?
Skills need to be mapped to jobs and to a career path. They need to be transparent to employees and should be updated regularly. A gap analysis helps to show what is needed for the next steps in a career and makes decisions reasonable.
6. Blended is becoming the default operating model. What has to change in how L&D designs experiences when learning is expected to happen ‘in the flow of work’?
Learning is shifting away from course conceptions and more towards embedded learning nuggets at the place where the content is needed. L&D needs to provide context-oriented, user-profile-specific content within the employee's environment rather than an environment where employees must login to learn.
7. What separates implementations that scale from those that stall, especially in large enterprises?
Seamless integration into the current infrastructure is an essential topic for all implementations. The system should be easily accessible for all users. This leads directly to a training and communication strategy, which is crucial for the rollout of systems and consistent usage.
8. If an L&D leader reads this report and can only do three things in the next 90 days, what should they be?
If we could do only three things, I would recommend:
- Prepare for more and deeper usage of AI and do a readiness check.
- Demonstrate the link between learning data and business data.
- Provide employees with an overview of their current skills and the skills expected in the future.
