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Udemy, a leading AI-powered skills acceleration platform, today released its annual 2026 Global Learning & Skills Trends Report. Rooted in learning data from over 17,000 Udemy enterprise customers, this report explores the top themes and most in-demand skills shaping the future of work. The data highlights an explosive 1,526% growth in Prompt Engineering skills among Udemy learners based in India, positioning advanced AI and productivity skills as the fastest-growing upskilling category in the country.
Udemy data also reveals a staggering 89% surge in upskilling related to Vector Databases among Udemy learners in India, signaling a clear embrace of generative AI technologies. This significant growth highlights the focus on effectively communicating with generative AI models by building scalable, high-performance data infrastructure. Microsoft data further supports this trend, showing that 59% of organizations in India are already using AI agents to automate workflows, underscoring the country’s rapid adoption of AI across industries.
“In 2026, AI fluency and adaptive skills are no longer nice-to-haves. They’re essential for every organization to stay competitive as skills evolve at a dizzying pace,” said Hugo Sarrazin, president and CEO of Udemy. “But AI fluency alone isn’t enough. Our data shows winning organizations are those investing just as much in leadership, adaptability, and human judgment. AI is handling efficiency, but humans are driving effectiveness with skills machines can’t replace.”
There’s a corresponding increase in Pytest (980%) and cloud certification (108%) programs, with the fastest growth in content consumption in AI productivity tools, Microsoft Playwright and Prompt Engineering. While business skills like Risk Management (90%) are seeing some growth, the dominant trend emerging is a move towards deeper specialization in role-specific technical paths.
The increase in demand for AI skills in India goes beyond simple curiosity. Indian learners are focused on adopting new tools and building systems that make them work. The numbers reflect this trend: a sharp rise in skills content consumption like System Design Interview (145%) and FastAPI (108%) indicates a strong focus on integration, ensuring new capabilities are woven into existing cloud and API architectures.
Simultaneously, a robust test and automation culture is emerging, with significant growth in learning frameworks such as Pytest (980%) and Microsoft Playwright (217%). This focus on upskilling in automated testing demonstrates a recognition among Indian learners that as systems become more complex and dependent on AI, quality and reliability will become the cornerstone to success.
Even as the demand for technical skills increases, data from the report underscores the enduring value of soft skills related to communication, leadership, change management, and more. Growth in Relationship Building upskilling (90%) signals that technical professionals are recognising the importance of soft skills in an AI-driven workplace, as communication, collaboration and critical thinking are fast becoming skills that are sought after. Additionally, a 90% increase in demand to learn Risk Management indicates a proactive approach to AI adoption in India. As AI systems are integrated into critical business functions, professionals are recognizing the need to manage the associated risks, including ethical dilemmas, data privacy concerns, and security vulnerabilities.
“AI fluency will be the new standard in 2026. It isn’t enough to have a basic understanding of technical skills anymore. True fluency comes with a holistic and in-depth understanding of AI’s capabilities, emerging applications, risks, and limitations. Most roles require using AI every day and as such, professionals need proactive skills development for AI readiness so it can be used fluidly in daily use cases,” said Vinay Pradhan, Country Manager & Senior Director Sales, India, Udemy.
Udemy identified four key areas of opportunity for companies assessing skills acceleration priorities for 2026:
AI fluency must become table stakes. Professionals who develop AI fluency, defined as using AI fluidly, and at the same time, thoughtfully and critically, understand its risks, assess outputs, and anticipate impacts, are well positioned for success and driving business outcomes.
For primarily business use cases and applications, the top-growing AI topic, Microsoft Copilot, increased 3,400%. For primarily technical use cases and applications, the top-growing AI topic was GitHub CoPilot, which increased 13,534%.
AI agents and agentic AI is the top-consumed net-new AI skill on Udemy Business.
Learning in the flow of work makes skills stick. By embedding learning into day-to-day workflows, enterprises can shift from just-in-case learning to just-in-time upskilling, building transferrable skills at the moment they’re most needed. Demand for Udemy’s AI Role Play signals cravings for context-specific learning in the pursuit of skills mastery. This context-specific learning drives results; according to research from ATD, 85% of talent professionals find retrieval practices effective in improving learning outcomes,
3,300+ Role Plays published in Udemy Business courses within 3 months of launch, and 38+ new Role Plays are created every day
Scaling leadership, ethics, and agility supercharges AI adoption. Effective leadership skills can empower AI skeptics with the confidence to reimagine their roles, functions, and workflows by using AI responsibly, bolstered by a culture that values permission and purpose.
Foundational leadership is the 6th most consumed of all business skills on Udemy Business, while AI ethics and governance course consumption increased 98% year-over-year.
Adaptive skills are critical for long-term resilience. Hard-earned skills like critical thinking, communication, and creativity have a shelf-life beyond any tech phenomenon. Adaptive or soft skills learning grew 25% year-over-year on Udemy Business, with surges in skills like critical thinking (37% increase) and decision-making (38% increase).
“Change is a constant in the world of work, but what’s more unpredictable are barriers, the impact of uncertainty, and whether or not we are agile enough to withstand them,” said Paul Kent, Senior Learning and Development Manager, PepsiCo. “By prioritizing business outcomes, professionals’ goals, and company-wide best practices, we’re developing the skills our teams need today and tomorrow to thrive in the AI era.”
