Learning Platforms Gain Flexibility to Meet Changing Skill Requirements, Employee Expectations, ISG says

ISG’s 2026 Buyers Guides benchmark 31 learning technology providers and highlight the shift toward unified, AI-enabled, skills-focused learning ecosystems.

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Software integrates with HR systems, supports personalized training paths while reducing administration burdens, new research says

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Enterprise learning software has expanded from systems to administer courses for compliance to platforms that support organizations’ broader needs for skills development and workforce readiness, according to new research from global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III).

The 2026 ISG Buyers Guides™ for Learning and Development report that traditional learning management systems have merged with learning experience platforms to form a new category that combines administration, skills awareness and engaging user experiences. Integrated with human capital management systems, human resources data, collaboration applications and content providers, these platforms allow organizations to carry out successful skills strategies without additional administrative burdens.

“As skill requirements grow more complex, enterprises want fewer systems that do more,” said Stacey Cadigan, ISG partner, Human Capital Management. “They need unified platforms that preserve governance and compliance while making training more relevant for both employees and the organization.”

The ISG Buyers Guide research provides the rankings and ratings of 31 software providers and their products for determining and delivering the skills employees need. The series includes guides to learning platforms, learning content platforms and learning and development suites.

Employees increasingly expect learning experiences similar to consumer applications, with easier discovery and self-directed exploration, including on mobile devices. Learning platforms are moving from static training catalogs to ontologies, which map the relationships between concepts, skills and jobs, to create better learning plans for employees. This allows for personalized learning paths that reflect an individual’s job requirements and proficiencies. By 2029, half of all enterprises will use ontology-based platforms to improve employee engagement and retention, ISG says.

Organizations evaluating learning platforms seek visibility that goes beyond training completion to include compliance risk, workforce readiness and recommended actions. Enterprises need the ability to assign training based on role, location or risk, with reliable reporting that can withstand audits. Analytics features are advancing to support these capabilities, while AI reduces repetitive effort through tasks such as content tagging. Many organizations also need to manage and deliver external education for partners, contractors or customers. For global enterprises, localization, accessibility and distributed administrative support are key requirements.

Enterprise expectations for learning content platforms have shifted from library size to relevance and usefulness, ISG finds. Organizations are seeking platforms that help them rationalize investments in content and produce clear evidence of value. Demand for learning and development suites is also growing as companies seek more unified environments that connect learning requirements with role-based growth, coaching and measurable workforce readiness.

“When evaluating learning platforms, enterprises should look for products that combine traditional governance with features that meet emerging user expectations,” said Matthew Brown, director of research, Human Capital Management, at ISG. “Where platforms use AI, buyers should ensure it is applied in targeted, explainable ways that align with enterprise governance requirements.”

For the 2026 ISG Buyers Guides for Learning and Development, ISG produced three Buyers Guides: Learning Platforms, Learning Content Platforms and Learning and Development Platforms. Each covers the essential platform categories and products in the given technology segment. A total of 31 providers were assessed: 360Learning, Absorb, Acorn, Adobe, Anthology, BizLibrary, Cegid, Cornerstone, Coursera, CYPHER, D2L, Dayforce, Docebo, ELB Learning, HiBob, isolved, Learning Pool, LearnUpon, LinkedIn, Litmos, Moodle, Oracle, PeopleFluent, Pluralsight, Sana, SAP, Schoox, Skillsoft, Thrive, Udemy and Workday.

ISG rates software providers in five evaluation categories: Overall, Product Experience, Capability, Platform and Customer Experience. Providers ranked in the top three for each evaluation category are named as Leaders. Within each platform category, those that meet the greatest proportion of our evaluation criteria are named as Overall Leaders.

Oracle, Schoox and Cornerstone were the top three Overall Leaders in the Buyers Guides for Learning Platforms and Learning and Development Suites. Udemy was the top Overall Leader in the Buyers Guide for Learning Content Platforms, followed by Cornerstone and Skillsoft.

In addition, the following providers were rated as Exemplary or Innovative in each of the Buyers Guides:

Learning Platforms: Absorb, Cornerstone, Docebo, HiBob, LearnUpon, Oracle, SAP, Schoox, Skillsoft and Workday were rated Exemplary. 360Learning, CYPHER and Sana were rated Innovative.

Learning Content Platforms: Cornerstone and Udemy were rated Exemplary. Coursera and Skillsoft were rated Innovative.

Learning and Development Suites: Cornerstone, Oracle, SAP, Schoox and Workday were rated Exemplary. No providers were rated Innovative.

The ISG Buyers Guides for Learning and Development are the distillation of more than a year of market and product research efforts. The research is not sponsored nor influenced by software providers and is conducted solely to help enterprises optimize their business and IT software investments.

Visit this webpage to learn more about the ISG Buyers Guides™ for Learning and Development and read executive summaries of each of the three reports. The complete reports, including provider rankings across seven product and customer experience dimensions and detailed research findings on each provider, are available by contacting ISG.

About ISG

ISG (Nasdaq: III) is a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm. A trusted partner to more than 900 clients, including 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is a long-time leader in technology and business services that is now at the forefront of leveraging AI to help organizations achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm, founded in 2006, is known for its proprietary market data and research, in-depth knowledge and governance of provider ecosystems, and the expertise of its 1,500 professionals worldwide working together to help clients maximize the value of their technology investments.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260904956026/en/

Press Contacts:

Laura Hupprich, ISG
+1 203 517 3132
laura.hupprich@isg-one.com

Erik Arvidson, Matter Communications for ISG
+1 978-518-4542
isg@matternow.com

Source: Information Services Group, Inc.

Key Terms

learning management systems technical

A learning management system is a software platform that creates, delivers, tracks and organizes training and educational content for employees, customers or partners. Think of it as a digital classroom and library plus a dashboard that shows who completed what and how well they did. Investors care because these systems can boost productivity, reduce training costs, support regulatory compliance, and generate steady revenue when sold as scalable subscriptions.

learning experience platforms technical

A learning experience platform (LXP) is software that delivers personalized, on-demand training and development content to employees or customers by combining course catalogs, videos, articles, social features and recommendation engines. It matters to investors because LXPs can increase user engagement and skill development across an organization, supporting productivity and talent retention much like a tailored gym and coach for workplace learning — factors that can influence a company’s operating performance and human-capital costs.

human capital management systems technical

Human capital management systems are software platforms companies use to recruit, pay, train and track employees, combining payroll, benefits, performance reviews, scheduling and hiring tools into a single digital hub — like an operating system that runs a workplace’s people functions. They matter to investors because better systems can lower labor costs, boost productivity, ensure legal compliance and give clearer forecasts about workforce needs, which directly affects profitability, growth prospects and operational risk.

ontologies technical

Ontologies are formal, structured models that define the kinds of things, their properties, and the relationships between them in a specific domain (such as finance, healthcare, or regulation), using standardized labels and rules so data can be consistently described and linked. They matter to investors because they let different systems and reports speak the same language, making it easier to combine, search, and analyze company filings, clinical data, or market feeds—like a shared map that prevents misunderstandings when assembling complex data.