HP Futures Report
2026

Skills in the Age of Intelligent Machines

A practical handbook for education systems on how to equip young people for the Future of Work

HP Futures Skills in the Age of Intelligent Machines handbook cover featuring two students using digital technology
In 2026, the HP Futures initiative, developed by HP in partnership with the Global Learning Council and the Education Leaders Forum, explored the core skills young people will need to wield as intelligent machines reshape learning and the Future of Work. 
 
HP Futures 2026 convened nearly 60 education and industry leaders in order to share a blueprint for how education systems can best evolve to equip learners to succeed in the workplaces and economies of the future. 
 
This handbook-style report brings together HP Futures Council session insights, the HP Futures 2026 Student Survey, one-to-one interviews with education leaders, and practical case studies from schools, universities, employers, NGOs and public systems operating in diverse contexts around the world. It aims to serve as a helpful, practical reference point for policymakers, education leaders, educators, employers and stakeholders as they look to develop and credentialise the core capabilities students will need in an AI-shaped world.
 
HP Futures 2026 identifies the durable skills students will need to develop in order to succeed in the future, looks at how and why they will form the infrastructure of AI-era readiness, and showcases where these skills and capabilities are being taught and assessed innovatively and effectively in schools and universities around the globe. 
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Key Recommendations:

  • Make policy reforms based on recognising that the skills that matter most in the Age of Intelligent Machines will be human, transferable and developmental, underpinned by a Thinking Skills Cluster: critical thinking, systems thinking, design thinking, and agile thinking.
  • Treat AI fluency as an enabling layer, not a replacement for foundational skills, to be embedded across subjects, disciplines and real-world contexts.
  • Make education policymaking and systems agile, because AI-era skills needs are moving faster than policy cycles.
  • Create standardised assessment pathways for durable skills that are recognised by higher education institutions and employers.
  • Align on interoperable skills standards across education systems and industry bodies so that students can properly credentialise their durable skills with credentials that travel across borders and sectors.
  • Update Higher Education admissions pathways so as not to block K-12 innovation around building durable skills within curricula.
  • Close the provision gap between the AI-shaped future students expect and the education they currently receive.
  • Design future skills-building programmes for public systems and low-resource contexts to ensure that durable skills do not become another source of inequality, through using methods such as teacher-mediated AI, low-bandwidth delivery and predictable costs.
David Mcquarrie
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“Educators, policymakers and employers share a responsibility to prepare young people for the opportunities and challenges they will encounter throughout their lives and careers. As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms how we learn and work, that responsibility has never been more important.”

– David McQuarrie
Chief Commercial Officer of HP and Chair of HP Futures
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