Merging XR and GenAI unlocks new potential for workforce upskilling and drives measurable impact, shifting from hype to tangible results in 2025
The buzz around GenAI technologies in the workplace is unmistakable. According to a report from Menlo Ventures, business spending on GenAI surged 500% from 2023. Despite the increased spending, realizing the impact of the GenAI gold rush has proved difficult.
As we head into the new year, business leaders must prioritize finding value and impact, which means moving from current, foundational GenAI tools to actionable use cases that cater to specific business needs. Oftentimes, this is most clear within the HR department – HR leaders have leaned into GenAI solutions to streamline their workflows, but the technology is capable of so much more.
There has been an over-prioritization of GenAI solutions that provide “faux-ductivity.” These tools and systems offer surface-level efficiencies but do not go deep enough to transform a business and uplevel employees’ capabilities. A greater focus on GenAI development needs to be placed on how the technology can fundamentally enhance the skills and capabilities employees possess.
Technologies often achieve greater impact when combined, as their integration can overcome individual limitations and unlock new possibilities. By leveraging their unique strengths, paired technologies can address challenges more effectively and create synergistic outcomes. Together, these pairings transcend their standalone capabilities, creating innovations that are not just additive but transformative—amplifying their value and driving more substantial outcomes than either could achieve alone.
Leveraging XR and GenAI Together to Overcome Limitations
On their own, both Generative AI (GenAI) and Extended Reality (XR) face weaknesses in driving transformative change within businesses. However, when paired they have the potential to deliver significant, tangible impact across organizations.
The challenges in quantifying the value of GenAI in the workplace have been widely discussed. While its promise has sparked immense excitement, its actual impact on productivity, business growth, and innovation often falls short of expectations. In HR, for example, GenAI excels as a task manager—automating to-do lists and streamlining processes—but has yet to fully unleash the transformative productivity and insights it initially promised.
Similarly, XR, while powerful, has its constraints. In HR contexts, it offers virtual simulations that enhance learning and training experiences, but the effectiveness of these simulations hinges on the quality of their content. Scaling personalized, impactful learning experiences remains a significant hurdle.
By fusing these technologies, businesses can overcome their individual shortcomings and unlock AI-driven solutions that live up to the hype. GenAI can revolutionize XR content creation—making it faster, easier, and more engaging. With just a few well-crafted prompts, organizations can create immersive learning and development experiences at scale, enabling a new era of tailored, effective workforce training.
XR and GenAI in Practice: Upskilling Employees with New Technology
Breaking through any hype cycle is more than just figuring out what emerging technologies fit together – it’s being able to use them in a use case that provides real, tangible impact for a business. For XR and GenAI, that use case must be in the upskilling of employees to ensure businesses have the talent and skills needed to help them reach the next phase of growth or even meet the demands of today’s economy.
Combining GenAI and XR enables simulations that replicate real-life human interactions, in a safe space to practice. By fostering adaptability through these two technologies, organizations can better prepare their workforce for the inevitable shifts driven by technological advancements. According to Cornerstone’s recent Workforce Readiness Report, 94% of business leaders believe their learning technologies significantly impact organizational agility. Yet, 63% of executives still see their workforce as unprepared for change—underscoring the critical link between workforce readiness and agility.
One valuable use case for these technologies is their ability to offer hyper-personalized training opportunities to employees. Whether employees are practicing conversations, such as high-stakes negotiations, or getting personalized career guidance, utilizing these tools can transform talent development into an engaging, practical experience. This will help teams to build confidence, develop skills faster, and gain proficiency in real-world scenarios.
Realizing the Potential of AI in 2025
As businesses continue to explore the growing applications of GenAI, the focus will shift toward identifying practical ways to leverage the technology for meaningful, measurable outcomes. HR teams are uniquely positioned to guide this evolution, transforming GenAI from a tool for routine tasks into a solution that drives strategic value for employees and the organization alike.
By integrating GenAI with other emerging technologies like XR, organizations can truly realize the hype of GenAI while simultaneously unlocking longer-term productivity. As we enter the new year, the focus must shift from hype to substance, embracing GenAI and XR as transformative tools that empower employees, drive innovation, and, ultimately, redefine business success.
Mike Bollinger Bio
Mike Bollinger is the Global VP of Strategic Initiatives at Cornerstone, where he is responsible for internal research, as well as strategy development around outcome-based goals. He also helped found the Cornerstone People Research Lab, whose mission is to generate data-driven discoveries about the world of work today and identify emerging trends that will give rise to new work models. Bollinger has more than 20 years of experience in organizational development and implementing innovative procedures by utilizing strategic leadership and processes. He recently co-wrote a “Workforce Agility—For Dummies Guide.”
Mike Bollinger Quote of Advice
“Though AI continues to gain momentum in the modern workplace, human-centric skills including responsibility, communication and problem-solving are critical soft skills that are in high demand in the workplace today. Technical skills alone are often insufficient without the human skills to apply them effectively in real-world scenarios. Therefore, it is important to remember that while upskilling technical skills is critical to business success, it is equally, if not more important to also develop human skills that will ensure workforce agility.”
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