The most overlooked AI strategy? Upskilling your frontline

While executives debate AI strategy in boardrooms, the real disruption is already happening on the frontlines. From automated scheduling to AI-assisted diagnostics to customer service chatbots, frontline workers are increasingly interacting with intelligent systems. Yet too many organizations still treat AI as a corporate workplace issue, overlooking the people who are most exposed to its impact. That’s a mistake.

If companies want to ensure their operations stay competitive, they need to remain committed to investing in the people who are closest to the work. The frontline is the proving ground. If your AI strategy fails there, it fails everywhere.

According to a recent IBM report, 40% of workers will need to reskill in the next three years due to AI and automation. Yet many companies still deprioritize frontline education. That’s not just shortsighted, it’s expensive. Turnover, disengagement, and operational inefficiencies all spike when workers aren’t equipped to adapt.

Some companies are getting it right. Carter’s, CVS Health, McDonalds, and Papa Johns have all invested in education benefits that make learning accessible to hourly and frontline employees. These programs not only offer tuition assistance but provide career pathways, coaching, and short-form credentials that align with real business needs.

McDonald’s is proving that frontline education isn’t merely a perk but a strategic imperative. Through its Archways to Opportunity program, McDonald’s and its participating franchisees offer restaurant employees access to high school completion, college tuition assistance, English language courses, and career coaching. The results are clear: over 90,000 crew members have participated, with more than $240 million invested in tuition assistance. 

According to a recent survey of Archways participants, 75% say the program helped them pursue a career in a new field or industry, 79% report learning job and life skills they still use today, and 88% gained greater confidence in their abilities. Additionally, nearly two-thirds say Archways helped them earn more or get a raise, and 55% say it helped them get promoted faster. As AI reshapes frontline roles, McDonald’s is leaning into the human skills that matter most—communication, teamwork, resilience—and equipping its workforce to thrive in a tech-enabled future.

If you’re a CHRO or CEO wondering where to begin, here are three immediate actions that can drive impact:

·   Stop Gatekeeping Education: Too often, learning opportunities are reserved for salaried or corporate employees, leaving out the very people who keep operations running—frontline, hourly, and part-time workers. Making education accessible means removing upfront costs, offering flexible formats that fit around shift work, and ensuring that programs deliver a clear return on investment for the learner. When companies like Carter’s expanded access to education benefits, they didn’t just improve participation—they built stronger pipelines for internal mobility and retention.

·   Start Laying the Groundwork for AI Readiness: If your organization is investing in automation, it must also invest in supporting workforce readiness and the long-term success of the people who will be impacted by it. That doesn’t always mean launching AI-specific training on day one, but it does mean creating pathways for frontline employees to develop core technology skills and competencies, and gain future-ready credentials.

CVS Health, for example, offers no-cost access to over 80 degree and credential programs through its tuition assistance program, which includes access to AI-specific trainings. The infrastructure is in place for employees to pursue relevant skills as business needs evolve. The key is to ensure HR, L&D, and IT are aligned so that when AI adoption accelerates, your workforce is prepared, not starting from zero.

·   Tell Better Stories: Highlighting the real employees who are investing in their development and growth through education programs isn’t just good PR, but a powerful internal engagement strategy. When employees see their peers advancing, it makes learning feel achievable and shows that growth is possible for everyone.

These stories should be shared widely, with clear pathways to opportunities for advancement, wage increases, or new roles. Papa Johns has done this well through its Dough & Degrees program, turning learners into ambassadors and reinforcing the message that growth is possible at every level of the organization.

AI isn’t going to replace your workforce—but it will reveal whether you’ve invested in them. It will expose the gaps between the companies that talk about transformation and the ones that actually prepare their people for it. The winners in this next era won’t be the ones with the most sophisticated algorithms or the biggest tech budgets. They’ll be the ones who saw AI not as a shortcut, but as a signal call to double down on human potential.