In a labor market that is transforming faster than universities can update their curricula, and where five generations could now be sharing the same workplace, engineer and business leader Yolanda Lassalle believes Puerto Rico has reached a decisive moment.
The adoption of artificial intelligence, she warns, is no longer optional.
“The need is today, not tomorrow,” said the president of LaSalle Group, a consulting firm that has trained more than 2,000 professionals in reskilling and upskilling across regulated industries. And while some employers on the Island are moving aggressively, many others remain hesitant—risking a widening gap in competitiveness.
Lassalle, a chemical engineer and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with more than 35 years of experience at companies like Pfizer, Wyeth and Pepsi, founded LaSalle Group 15 years ago. From Puerto Rico, the firm has expanded to the United States and 14 other countries, advising Fortune 500 clients and operating a Talent Development and Innovation Center focused on workforce transformation.
What she sees across markets is consistent: technology is advancing faster than talent systems, and employers can no longer rely on traditional degrees to keep pace.
“We realized we couldn’t help organizations become more effective if we removed the human component from the equation,” she said. “People were doing the work, but they didn’t have all the skills to do it.”
That gap has widened as artificial intelligence accelerates the pace of change. Some companies in Puerto Rico—particularly in life sciences, medical devices and software development—are already using AI in maintenance, operations and decision-making. Others remain cautious, unsure about how to integrate the technology or how to prepare their workforce for it. But the direction is clear. “Not adopting artificial intelligence is not an option,” Lassalle said. “AI is in everything we do.”
Her firm uses AI extensively, including through a partnership with Mormurato, a platform that blends employee input with AI-driven insights to improve workplace processes. The pace of change, she notes, is relentless. “It’s not month to month. It’s week to week.”
That speed creates pressure for workers who already feel stretched. Many frontline employees simply don’t have the time or guidance to explore new tools on their own. This means employers must define how AI will be used and provide structured training—not just technical instruction, but support for how adults learn and adapt.
The Impact Report’s Findings
The urgency of that shift is reflected in LaSalle Group’s Impact Report, a study of more than 2,000 professionals trained through the firm’s programs. The findings reveal a workforce eager to contribute but lacking the tools to do so.
The study found that 92% of participants said they understood their role clearly, yet 56% reported they did not have all the tools or skills needed to be successful.
Nearly half felt their employers were not providing the development they needed. However, 61% said their organizations were offering opportunities to learn new technologies—evidence of a workforce in transition, caught between expectations and execution challenges.
Lassalle argues that these numbers should serve as a wake-up call for businesses and organizations. “If you invest in people, you retain knowledge, you promote from within, and you accelerate performance,” she said. “Cutting training is a mistake.”
The Impact Report also highlights a generational shift: today’s workers are more educated than those of previous decades and expect to use their minds, contribute ideas and advance quickly. They want environments where learning is continuous and where technology enhances their ability to perform.
Lassalle’s observations echo the findings of Microsoft’s 2026 Work Trend Index and its analysis of so-called Frontier Firms, organizations redesigning their operating models around human-AI collaboration. According to Microsoft, software engineering teams have already moved through four patterns of humanagent collaboration—Author, Editor, Director and Orchestrator—and these patterns are now spreading across all business functions. The shift is not about replacing people, but redefining their role.
As Microsoft’s Jared Spataro explains, what declines is the amount of tactical, step-by-step execution work humans do themselves, and what rises is the need for humans to set direction, define standards and evaluate outcomes.
Microsoft’s data underscores the magnitude of the shift. Nearly half of all Copilot chats support cognitive work such as analysis, problem solving and creative thinking. Meanwhile, 58% of AI users say they are producing work they could not have created a year ago, and among the most advanced users that figure rises to 80%. When asked which human skills matter most as AI takes on more tasks, workers point to quality control of AI output and critical thinking -two capabilities Lasalle also identifies as essential.
Tensions Increasing in the Workplace
Both Lassalle and Microsoft describe a growing tension inside organizations: the pressure to perform colliding with the pressure to transform. Microsoft’s research shows that 65% of workers fear falling behind if they don’t adapt to AI, yet nearly half say it feels safer to focus on current goals than to redesign work. Only a small minority feel rewarded for reinventing workflows with AI.
Lassalle sees the same dynamic in Puerto Rico. Many employers still view workforce development as a cost, not an investment, even though her firm’s data shows that more than half of workers feel they lack the tools to succeed.
The skills gap she describes is multidimensional. Workers need stronger technical literacy to navigate sensors, automation, software systems and AI-enabled tools. They also need the human capabilities—communication, collaboration, problemsolving and change management—that determine whether new technologies succeed or fail.
Just as importantly, companies must integrate employees into the design of new systems. Too often, Lassalle said, organizations implement Manufacturing Execution System (MES) or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platforms without involving the people who will use them, leading to confusion, resistance and failed rollouts. “Successful implementations involve people from day one,” she emphasized.
Call to Action
Puerto Rico has strong universities and abundant talent, Lassalle said, but curricula must evolve faster. She points to models like North Carolina’s network of universities and community colleges, which coordinate closely with industries to support both students and incumbent workers. The Island, she argues, needs more agile academic programs, shorter and more accessible learning interventions, stronger industryeducation partnerships and a clearer sense of employer accountability for continuous development. With reshoring and nearshoring bringing new investment to the Island, the stakes are high. Companies are hiring, but often cannot find the skills they need.
Microsoft’s research concludes that organizational culture—not individual skill— is the biggest predictor of AI impact. Culture, manager support and talent practices account for more than twice the effect of individual mindset or behavior. The firms that redesign their operating models today, Microsoft argues, will build something more durable: organizations that learn faster than their competitors, compound their own intelligence and become harder to catch.
Lassalle agrees. The question for Puerto Rico, she says, is whether employers will move quickly enough. “Technology is here. The need is here. The question is whether we prepare our people for it.”
In the age of AI, access to tools will soon be universal. The real competitive advantage will belong to the organizations—and the economies—that learn how to use them.
