But while the skills gap could hold some businesses back over the next two years, some employees remain resistant to adopting AI in their roles.
Employment firm Skillsoft released the findings from a large-scale survey on Thursday, which one executive said should serve as a wake-up call for businesses banking on generative AI technology.
The research comes days after the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed AI had become the fastest-growing field for research and development investments, and after Treasurer Jim Chalmers named the technology as a national priority.
Skillsoft's 2025 Global Skills Intelligence Survey questioned 1000 human resources and learning and development professionals in Australia, the US, UK and Germany.
Just 10 per cent of the participants said they were confident the workforce had the training and skills needed to achieve business goals in the next two years, with the biggest gaps in AI, technology and leadership.
Almost one in four (24 per cent) expressed concern generative AI technology was advancing faster than training available to master it, and and a similar number (28 per cent) said the lack of skills could prevent businesses pursuing opportunities.
The findings highlighted a growing problem in the age of generative AI, Skillsoft talent strategy and transformation senior managing director Mark Onisk said, as many businesses would rely on the technology to expand.
"I would like to business leaders to ... see this as a wake-up call that we will cease generating value for our shareholders unless we make learning a higher priority," he told AAP.
"The organisations that invest in learning and skilling over the long run have higher share prices, they have higher earnings."
Many employees were also resistant to change, according to the study, and 91 per cent of survey respondents suspected workers exaggerated their AI skills, making it harder for managers to tell where training was needed.
Basic AI use, such as using prompts to generate content, was not difficult for workers, Mr Onisk said, but employees could unlock more advanced AI results if managers identified gaps and provided education to fill them.
"It's an interesting kind of conundrum," he said.
"So much of this actually falls upon leadership to understand where the gaps are and have a little bit of insight on that, and then being able to direct people to the right scaling opportunities."
The Australian Bureau of Statistics recently found Australian businesses had more than doubled their investment in AI, with a $668.3 million injection in the 2024 financial year, compared to $276 million in 2022.
The federal government has yet to release rules to govern high-risk uses of the technology, and has committed to a legal analysis before proposing laws.
