Coursera and Udemy Release 2026 Global Skills Report, Launch AI-Human Skills Synergy Index

Coursera and Udemy released their first joint Global Skills Report in 2026, drawing on data from more than 300 million learners and introducing an AI-Human Skills Synergy Index covering 98 countries. Germany and France lead the index, followed by Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong; the US ranks eighth, the UK 19th and China 28th. The report also notes that 75% of organizations are experimenting with or implementing AI, while only 18% say most of their workforce has been trained; 96% of surveyed students and teachers use AI, but only 26% of educators say their institution has a formal AI policy.

The report provides verifiable cross-national learning behavior data for the AI education field, revealing gaps in the coordinated development of AI skills and human skills such as critical thinking and complex problem-solving. For education product practitioners, the index shows market opportunities concentrated in cross-disciplinary skills combining AI with specific domains; for schools and teachers, the gap between 96% usage and 26% policy coverage indicates that institutional governance lags well behind actual use. The report itself notes that the index reflects learning on the two platforms rather than whole economies, and that learner enthusiasm in countries such as Japan may outpace enterprise adoption. Education product practitioners can adjust course and certification directions based on the index's demand for cross-disciplinary skills such as AI with marketing, finance and the public sector. Schools and teachers face a reality where AI usage far exceeds institutional policy coverage, and need to prioritize establishing formal AI policies and teacher support mechanisms.