Three signals. Different programs and periods.
myeducation · 2023 case study
18% lower attrition
Participants compared with nonparticipants; not a companywide reduction.
Digital Academy · first year
11,000+ learners
Participation in digital-skills learning after its 2022 launch.
myeducation · 2025 proxy
4,850 enrolled
A later disclosed total, alongside more than 1,400 graduates.
Give people a reason to picture their future here
When an employee looks at their next few years, can they see a path forward inside the business? It is a question worth asking before buying another training platform.
PepsiCo offers a useful example of connecting learning to career opportunities. Its approach brings together education benefits, digital-skills training and ways to explore other roles. For a retailer or CPG business, the interesting part is how those pieces fit together: an employee can learn something useful and see where it might take them.
What the evidence actually says
Aspen Institute’s August 2023 case study reported 18% lower attrition among myeducation participants than nonparticipants. It also recorded more than 11,000 employees participating in the separate Digital Academy during its first year after launch in 2022. These are different programs and measures.
The retention comparison is encouraging. It does not establish that AI caused the difference, or that PepsiCo reduced companywide attrition by 18%. Employees who choose to study may differ from those who do not. A stronger evaluation would account for those differences.
PepsiCo’s 2025 proxy statement provides a later view of myeducation: more than 28,000 U.S. employees had created profiles, 4,850 had enrolled and more than 1,400 had graduated. Profile creation, enrollment and graduation are different milestones. Keeping them separate helps leaders understand whether interest becomes progress.
Education has to fit the employee’s life
Guild’s current PepsiCo benefits page lists over 100 programs from more than 25 schools. Eligible active U.S. employees can access the benefit after six months. Select programs cover tuition, with degrees, certificates, high-school completion and English learning among the options. Flexible online study and individual guidance are part of the offer.
For someone working shifts, access is only the beginning. A course still needs to fit around work and family. Retailers considering a similar approach should ask employees what would make participation realistic: predictable schedules, time to study, a clear application process and someone who can help when they get stuck.
A large catalog is less useful if people cannot work out where to start. The employee should be able to answer three questions: Which role interests me? What skills do I need? What support will help me finish?
Where AI supports the journey
The 2023 Aspen study describes AI course recommendations based on role, experience and career aspirations. It also identifies Gloat’s myDevelopment marketplace and Draup’s AI talent analytics, which helps map skills and career pathways. These support a broader development system; they are not evidence that one algorithm produced the retention result.
Our view is that AI is most useful here when it makes the next step easier to understand. It could help an employee connect experience they already have to a possible role, identify a skill gap and explain relevant learning options in plain language.
The employee should still choose their direction, with a person available to discuss the options. Recommendations should be explainable and easy to correct. A learning suggestion should not quietly become a judgment about someone’s promotion potential.
What retailers and CPG companies can take from this
Start with one role that is difficult to fill and one realistic route into it. A warehouse operator might want to move into inventory planning. A store associate might want to become a department manager. These are illustrative paths, not claims about PepsiCo’s results.
Work backward from the job: identify the skills, choose suitable education, arrange practical experience and explain how employees can apply. Managers need to support the move even when it means losing a strong person from their own team.
Measure completion, demonstrated skills, internal applications, role changes and employee feedback. Track retention using comparable groups and account for tenure, location and job type. Course clicks alone cannot tell you whether people are building a better career.
A pilot should test whether employees understand their options and can act on them. Use a simple, human-supported process as the starting comparison. Add AI where it improves that experience, then check whether the improvement lasts.
PepsiCo’s example makes employee education a practical business question: can the company help its existing people grow into the work it needs done next? For retail and CPG leaders, that is a useful place to begin.
