L&D was never wrong. It was just too small.

The Agency Market Is Shifting

A recent survey of 264 agency leaders in German-speaking countries reveals the scale of this change. 21% have already adapted their positioning significantly, and 55% at least slightly (Agency Report DACH 2026). Only 14% have kept everything the same.

The reason lies in pricing logic. Artificial intelligence makes standard services available faster and more affordably. As a result, the classic daily rate is losing its value. Digital agencies are already reacting: 66% plan to focus their work more heavily on business process consulting in the future (iBusiness, Internet Agency Ranking 2026). Currently, the largest share of fee turnover, 37% on average, still comes from technical implementation. In contrast, strategy and consulting account for only 14%. This ratio is beginning to shift, and it must continue to do so.

The Pressure Hits Professional Development Particularly Hard

For the professional development industry, a second trend comes into play. German companies have cut their training budgets by around 30% within two years, to approximately €1,204 per employee per year (McKinsey HR Monitor, according to Handelsblatt, May 2026). At the same time, 56% of companies use generative AI, but only 27% have trained their employees to use it (TÜV Weiterbildungsstudie 2026, Forsa).

Smaller budgets mean less tolerance for initiatives whose impact cannot be proven. When budgets are cut, the first to go are those where the benefit remains unclear.

Why Content Is No Longer a Differentiator

For a long time, producing learning content was a primary reason to hire an agency. Today, artificial intelligence handles the vast majority of pure production. In 2025, 62% of organizations were already using artificial intelligence to create learning content, yet only 27% of them reported an improvement in learning quality (Deloitte, Human Capital Trends Report 2025).

The content itself remains crucial. What automated production cannot replace is curation, contextualization, validation, and supervision: the work before and after that turns content into the right answer for a specific goal.

The real difference is made elsewhere. It lies in the diagnosis that clarifies what is actually missing before any initiative begins. It lies in the learning architecture, where individual formats are structured into a journey aligned with a specific goal. Neither of these can be automated.

Where SAPERED Comes From

We founded SAPERED about five years ago. It started with an idea focused inward first: to build a workplace where people can truly thrive.

We all come from the agency world. We had seen a lot before we founded SAPERED. In the L&D space, many practices had become established that simply do not work: rapid delivery without impact, and learning content without prior diagnosis. We wanted to change exactly that, placing people at the center of everything we do.

SAPERED was born from this mindset. And it is this same mindset that makes our current repositioning harder for me than it might sound.

What We Are Letting Go Of

We are letting go of something that worked for a long time. Clients immediately knew what an L&D agency delivered: training sessions and learning content. This clear classification was convenient, both for our clients and for us.

Without it, we find ourselves explaining what we actually do more often. Some clients need an explanation today that was not necessary in the past. We accept this trade-off. 21% of the agency industry has already fundamentally changed its positioning. We are part of this group. And those who cannot or will not change will face a challenging path ahead.

What We Are Instead

Today, we stand for People & Organisational Development. Every partnership follows three clear steps: Strategy, Enablement & Impact.

Strategy: We translate a business goal into a development strategy for people, deeply rooted in the organization.

Enablement: We empower these individuals to put the strategy into action within the organization.

Impact: We make the outcome measurable, using key metrics established right from the start.

These three steps are sequential. Each phase builds directly on the previous one.

What This Means for Organizations

For organizations investing in development, the benchmarks are shifting. A provider that only delivers content is competing with an AI system that can produce the same in a fraction of the time. A partner who first clarifies what needs to change and how that change will be measured is in a league of their own. This part of the work cannot be automated.

What also cannot be automated is the personal relationship between people. For us, this connection remains the foundation of everything.

Three Questions for Your Own Assessment

If you are currently selecting a development provider or evaluating an existing partnership, these three questions can help guide your decision.

• Is there a clear target metric defined before the first initiative begins, or does the work start directly with the format?

• Can you clearly identify what parts of this initiative cannot be automated?

• At the end of the project, can you prove that progress was made, or are you left with just a feeling?

If you can answer yes to all three questions, you are already working with a partner who delivers diagnosis and architecture. If not, you now know what to ask for.