Maslow’s hierarchy of AI fluency training

Every week, another executive asks me: Where do we even start with AI? As we enter 2026, this question drives explosive demand for AI upskilling platforms and AI-powered learning solutions. Yet most enterprise AI training programs fail because they lack a systematic framework that moves the organization from confused to fluent to truly differentiated. Think of it as Maslow’s hierarchy, but for AI capability development. And 2026 is the year to climb that hierarchy.

An effective AI upskilling platform must address five levels of organizational capability: foundational literacy, company-specific application, durable skills development, breakthrough innovation, and co-intelligence integration.

THE FOUNDATION: BUILD YOUR BASE CAMP

Just as you can’t achieve self-actualization without food and shelter, you can’t build an AI advantage without foundational literacy. Yet most organizations skip this step, rushing to deploy tools before their people understand what they’re actually working with.

The three non-negotiables at the base:

1. Understand what AI actually is. Not the marketing promises, but the reality. When your teams understand the underlying mechanics, they make better decisions about when and how to apply these tools. The goal isn’t turning everyone into data scientists. It’s eliminating the dangerous combination of over-confidence and ignorance.

2. Safety and ethics literacy. Fear of “doing it wrong” stops more AI adoption than any other factor. People need clear guardrails: What data can we use? When must we disclose AI assistance? Without this clarity, your talented people will simply avoid AI entirely.

3. Core application skills. Everyone in your organization should understand how to effectively communicate with AI systems. In 2026, this isn’t optional AI literacy anymore—it’s as fundamental as email proficiency was in 2005.

THE CRITICAL MIDDLE: YOUR COMPANY’S POINT OF VIEW

Here’s where good companies separate from mediocre ones. The best organizations—Shopify, Zapier, Duolingo—don’t just teach generic AI skills. They build a distinctive point of view on how AI should work in their specific context.

This means answering hard questions: What should AI do here? What should it never do? How does AI use align with our values and competitive positioning?

Your “company POV—AI sandbox” becomes the space where teams safely experiment within defined boundaries. It’s structured freedom—clear enough to prevent dangerous mistakes, open enough to enable innovation.

Then comes personalization. Generic training fails because a software engineer’s relationship with AI looks nothing like a customer service representative’s. Breaking down use cases by team, role, and workflow transforms abstract concepts into concrete daily practice.

This is where enterprise AI upskilling platforms differentiate themselves, by enabling personalized AI training that adapts to each team’s workflow context. Research shows that personalizing training by role achieves much higher adoption than generic training programs.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN AN AI UPSKILLING PLATFORM

Cohort-based learning for peer accountability and shared discovery
Workflow integration that brings training into daily work contexts
Role-specific pathways rather than generic content
Safe experimentation environments (AI sandboxes)
Progress tracking that measures fluency, not just completion

The right AI-powered learning platform doesn’t just deliver content—it builds organizational AI capability systematically across the hierarchy.

THE TRANSFORMATION ZONE: DURABLE SKILLS

Here’s the insight that escapes most organizations entering 2026: Crossing from competent to breakthrough doesn’t require more AI skills. It requires human skills that AI amplifies.

Critical thinking. Curiosity. Entrepreneurial agency.

These durable AI skills separate organizations that use AI to do the same things faster from those that reimagine what’s possible. Leading corporate AI training platforms focus on developing these capabilities through experiential learning and peer collaboration, not just content consumption.

This tier splits into two paths:

Scale and efficiency growth: AI’s ability to generate and personalize at near-zero marginal cost fundamentally changes business economics. Smart companies systematically examine every workflow, asking: Where does AI change our cost structure?

Human-first breakthrough: The harder path, with far higher returns. This requires asking: How can AI make our company more human? How do we free people from tedious work to do more creative, caring, human work? How do we use AI to create experiences that are more personalized and genuinely helpful than humans alone could deliver?

Most organizations stop at efficiency. The winners push through to augmentation and transformation.

THE SUMMIT: CO-INTELLIGENCE

At the peak sits a different relationship with AI entirely—one that forward-thinking organizations are achieving in 2026. Not tool and user, but genuine co-intelligence—where AI seamlessly integrates into workflows, giving your people capabilities they never had before.

This is where empowered, curious, AI-native talent emerges. These individuals don’t think about “using AI.” They think through problems with AI as a natural extension of their cognitive toolkit.

Organizations at this level aren’t just AI-fluent. They’re AI-native in their decision making, customer experience, and innovation process.

YOUR 2026 AI TRANSFORMATION ROADMAP

Whether you’re evaluating AI upskilling platforms or building internal corporate AI training programs, this hierarchy provides your 2026 roadmap. The organizations winning with AI aren’t those with the most tools—they’re those with the most systematic approach to workforce AI capability development.

The beauty of this hierarchy is its clarity:

If you’re at zero: Start with foundations. Build understanding, safety literacy, and basic skills across your organization.

If you’re past foundations: Develop your company POV. Create your sandbox. Personalize by role and workflow.

If you’re operationally fluent: Identify your catalysts. Build their durable skills. Set them loose on breakthrough opportunities.

If you’re pushing toward co-intelligence: You’re writing the next chapter.

The path isn’t easy. But it is clear. And in 2026, as AI capabilities accelerate and organizations remain paralyzed at the base, simply moving systematically up this hierarchy creates a genuine competitive advantage.

The question isn’t whether your organization will become AI-fluent. It’s whether you’ll get there in 2026 before your competition does—and whether you’ll stop at efficiency or push through to transformation.

Start climbing.

Candice Faktor is co-CEO of Disco.

source https://www.fastcompany.com/91467835/maslows-hierarchy-of-ai-fluency-training