I was a great manager.

It’s been a hot minute since my last supervisory gig, but I was someone’s boss for most of my first 15 working years. I wasn’t perfect. It took me a while to balance the operational and people sides of the role. I eventually figured out how to take care of a team while hitting business metrics. I have lots of former peers to thank for my management education. Sadly, I won’t be sending learning and development (L&D) a fruit basket.

The Leadership Development Gap

I became a great manager despite the training I received — not because of it. My first management classes came months after my promotion. At my next job, I wasn’t scheduled for training because my boss wouldn’t spare the time. I attended a few sessions that sounded especially important on my days off. Despite managing teams ranging from 10 to 300 people across global brands for over a decade, I never completed a formal training program.

That may be my abridged leadership development story, but it’s far from unique.

The Chartered Management Institute reports that 82% of new bosses are “accidental managers” with little-to-no formal training. CEB Global found that 60% of new managers fail within two years. It’s no wonder Josh Bersin cited only 25% of organizations see high value in their leadership development programs.

Set Up to Fail

Today’s managers face increasingly heavy workloads and shifting team needs, which are resulting in alarming burnout rates. Tasked with everything from engagement to safety, they’re simply not getting the support they need to succeed. Traditional leadership development isn’t working. L&D may not be able to change the manager’s role or fix broken processes, but surely we can find better ways to equip managers with the skills and confidence to thrive.

It’s time for a new approach. L&D must leave familiar models behind and move on to strategies that meet managers amid their daily chaos. We must take a lesson from functions that are turning to emerging technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), to find new solutions to long-standing challenges.

A New Best Friend

Technology won’t transform inexperienced managers into veterans overnight, but an AI-enabled ecosystem can significantly enhance their working and learning experience.

AI can lighten managers’ loads by automating routine tasks like approving shift trades, assigning tasks and responding to common employee questions. Digital assistants can provide on-demand support in the workflow, reducing the amount of information managers must retain to handle new or complex tasks. By analyzing operational data, AI can nudge managers to focus on employees in need of timely support.

AI tools can also boost skill-building without requiring classroom time. Digital avatars can simulate complex scenarios, giving managers risk-free opportunities to practice difficult conversations with employees or customers. AI-powered platforms can personalize learning by leveraging managers’ experience, training history and performance data. This tech-driven approach accelerates development for experienced managers by eliminating unnecessary activities while allowing each person to progress at their own pace.

Mindset First

This is a technology story, but AI can’t close the leadership development gap on its own. To realize this potential future, L&D must shift our perspective. We must evolve from a programmatic approach, anchored in classrooms and courses, to an always-on enablement system that applies a purposeful blend of structured and unstructured tactics.

AI could have helped me become an even better manager. I would’ve relied on peers less, guessed less, and felt more confident in my decisions. Most importantly, I would’ve felt the company was truly invested in my success because it provided me with the tools I needed to perform at my best — not just a list of courses I could never find the time to attend.

Can AI save leadership development? I think so.