Companies investing millions in generative AI may soon find themselves stalled—not by the technology’s limits, but by their people’s. As generative AI becomes more ubiquitous, a paradox has emerged: The more deeply we integrate the technology into our workflows, the more indispensable human skills become. These “soft” skills—like problem framing, collaboration, and creativity—encompass the uniquely human abilities and behaviors that will enable people to make the most working alongside gen AI.

Unfortunately, many companies are confronting a human skills gap. For example, a 2024 study by the Society for Human Resource Management found that less than one-third of employers believe recent graduates are equipped with the critical thinking skills they’ll need in the workplace.

The solution seems simple: We’ll just teach them. But today’s traditional training methods won’t be enough. To start, only about 35% of employers provide human skills development opportunities to their employees, often because of a lack of trainers or appropriate training programs. And even those that do offer programs tend to fall short—they are too generic or too disconnected from day-to-day work and, most importantly, lack reach across all the employee base.

But what if each employee had a personal coach who understood their role, the challenges they face in driving high performance, and their unique learning needs—and was available on-demand at fraction of what companies spend on learning and development (L&D) today? This is where gen AI becomes an enabler, by providing personalized human skills training at scale.

Evidence from a recent experiment by the BCG Henderson Institute suggests that gen AI-powered tutoring can be as effective—and more engaging—than traditional interventions to build human skills, such as classroom training.