The evolving role of learning and development in human resource management

Learning and development teams are under growing pressure as skills gaps continue to widen across industries. Seventy-two percent of executives responded that their people’s ability to adapt, reskill, and take on new roles was a key factor in navigating future disruptions, according to a Deloitte survey. Many organizations are struggling to answer two fundamental questions: What skills do we currently have, and what skills do we need to stay competitive?

To effectively align with organizational objectives, HR leaders must proactively identify potential risks that could impact the future of workforce management. These risks may include:

• Talent shortages
• Evolving skill requirements
• Demographic shifts
• Economic and regulatory changes

Without clear insight, it’s nearly impossible to build effective training programs or drive meaningful employee growth. That's where SAP SuccessFactors comes in, with its strong suite of skills-enabled solutions, along with skills data partner applications like Degreed, a learning and upskilling platform. Together, SAP SuccessFactors and Degreed offer a smarter, more personalized, and skill-driven learning experience that empowers your entire talent strategy.

What is Degreed, and how does it work?

Degreed is the leading AI-assisted learning platform for enterprise workforce transformation. With deep skill-building experiences, seamless integration across your HR technology suite, and intelligent automation, Degreed personalizes development at scale—so your workforce is always prepared for what’s next.

By using AI, Degreed helps organizations:

• Pinpoint emerging skill needs with precision
• Customize learning journeys at scale
• Measure outcomes with actionable analytics

The result: workforce development becomes a catalyst for greater business agility, higher employee performance, and sustainable growth.

How does Degreed integrate with SAP SuccessFactors?

Degreed integrates with SAP SuccessFactors to power a connected, skills-first talent ecosystem. SAP SuccessFactors Talent Intelligence Hub remains the source of truth for skills – but with the added power of skills-based learning across Degreed and the LMS, plus a bidirectional integration that syncs data across SAP’s Talent Intelligence Hub, SAP SuccessFactors Learning, and Degreed, customers get a unified view of employee skills, development activity, and mobility potential.

SAP SuccessFactors Learning—built to support compliance, strategic skill-building, and learning in the flow of work—becomes even more dynamic when paired with Degreed. Together with Degreed, you can:

• Offer AI-driven, structured learning experiences
• Access over 80 content providers connecting to 39 million resources

This helps drive both personalized growth and measurable impact across your organization.

SAP human capital management and Degreed: Stronger together

Degreed has been selected to be an SAP-endorsed partner for its learning experience capabilities. It now also integrates with SAP’s Talent Intelligence Hub, a solution within SAP SuccessFactors. SAP Endorsed apps complement and extend SAP products and are meant to deliver value with desired outcomes—quickly, easily, and with support from SAP.

Dynamic learning options
Use Degreed’s curation to explore structured experiences including on-demand learning, pathways and plans, AI coaching, and role-plays.

Automated recommendations
Degreed uses automations, HR data, and skills insights from SAP SuccessFactors to deliver timely, tailored nudges to learners, while SAP SuccessFactors surfaces learning recommendations to people in the context of their HR interactions – from planning their next career move to working on their goals for next year and beyond.

Bidirectional learning integration

Synchronize learning and user data between Degreed and SAP SuccessFactors solutions to ensure a consistent user experience. Content from Degreed is made available in SAP SuccessFactors Learning through Open Content Network to expose more learning content recommendations across SAP SuccessFactors Learning and Talent applications.

The future of workforce management

With SAP SuccessFactors and Degreed, you’ll offer more than training—you’ll build a workforce ready for what’s next. This partnership connects skill intelligence to business strategy, enabling leaders to make smarter talent decisions and employees to grow with purpose.

For further insight, explore more exciting capabilities at Success Connect at SAP Connect. This in-person event was held in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 6–8, 2025 but the virtual, on-demand content from the event is available using the link above.