What’s the future of compliance? It’s becoming a strategic priority, not just for legal and HR teams, but across the business. As new regulations emerge and risk grows more interconnected, companies are taking a closer look at how training drives accountability, protects brand reputation, and supports growth.
And the pressure is growing. According to recent data, 35% of risk executives now say compliance and regulatory risk is their company’s biggest threat to growth. That makes training less of a formality and more of a business necessity, something that touches every part of the organization, from frontline teams to third-party partners.
In response, compliance-related training is getting a much-needed upgrade. This year, teams are moving away from filler content and toward what actually drives outcomes. Not just content that covers the material, but content that fits the workplace as we see it today, responds to regulatory updates, and mitigates risk.
In this blog, we’ll walk through five key compliance trends shaping training content in 2025. Then, we’ll break down the current regulatory environment for specific industries so you can stay in the know for what’s next and build a strategy that’s ready for it.
5 content trends to shape your 2025 compliance strategy
Compliance training is being asked to do more, with less room for delay or error. The risks are bigger, the rules are changing faster, and your content needs to do more than sit in a course library. It needs to reflect how people work, what they’re responsible for, and what regulators are watching most closely.
In 2025, that means moving away from one-size-fits-all modules and toward content that’s timely, specific, and easy to update when things shift. The five trends below highlight what’s changing and what to start planning for now.
1. AI governance is becoming a compliance training priority
Artificial intelligence is no longer experimental. It's now a core part of how many companies operate. That shift comes with new day-to-day compliance risks and responsibilities.
From automated decision-making to content generation, AI introduces legal and ethical concerns that employees need to understand. Training should cover how to spot bias, document AI usage, and stay within regulatory limits. And in high-stakes industries like finance and healthcare, even small AI missteps can carry serious consequences for people’s wellbeing or financial security.
Regulators are starting to catch up. In the U.S., state-level laws are increasing, while federal guidance is still taking shape. In Europe, the AI Act introduces risk management requirements and stricter documentation rules. That means your compliance training needs to address not just how AI is built, but how it’s applied in practice.
Companies are beginning to add AI governance to their compliance programs. That includes training on oversight, ethical data use, and collaboration between compliance, legal, and technical teams.
Why it matters
Without strong internal knowledge and document management, AI use can increase the risk of non-compliance, bias, and reputational damage. Organizations that stay proactive will be better prepared for incoming regulations.
2. Adaptive learning makes compliance training more effective
Not everyone needs the same training or the same amount of it. Adaptive learning is tailored to the experience based on role, behavior, or what someone already knows. It cuts down on repetition, skips the obvious, and focuses on what matters most.
For compliance teams, that means new hires can get up to speed faster, seasoned employees aren’t re-reviewing the basics, and external vendors only see what’s relevant to them. The result: better retention, faster completions, and fewer learners mentally checking out halfway through. It’s a smarter use of everyone’s time and an easier way to prove your training was risk-based and relevant.
Why it matters
The fastest way to lose attention? Teach learners something they don’t need. Adaptive learning keeps training useful and audit-ready.
3. Microlearning makes it easier to stay on track
Long sessions lead to short attention spans. Microlearning breaks compliance training into smaller, focused pieces that are easier to complete and harder to ignore.
Instead of overwhelming learners with everything at once, microlearning delivers just enough content at the right time. A quick quiz here. A short video there. These bite-sized moments fit neatly into the workday and support long-term retention without disrupting the flow of work.
Wave Utilities is a prime example. Before adopting Absorb LMS, their compliance training required up to four weeks for new hire onboarding and two full weeks of annual refresher sessions. Employee satisfaction was low, and their training Net Promoter Score sat at -76.
After switching to a microlearning format, they reduced onboarding by three to four weeks and replaced their two-week refresher program with an on-demand course that takes less than three hours to complete. Training became more flexible, role-specific, and accessible, resulting in higher satisfaction scores, greater engagement, and a measurable lift in learning outcomes.
It also made compliance easier to manage. With pre-built content and modular delivery, the Wave team could scale its program without sacrificing quality.
Why it matters
Shorter content gets seen. Timely content gets remembered. Microlearning helps your compliance program do both.
4. Learning in the flow of work keeps compliance moving
Training shouldn’t require learners to stop what they’re doing, open a separate tab, and mentally switch gears. The more you can embed compliance into daily routines, the more likely it is to happen.
Learning in the flow of work means making compliance part of how people work, not something they do after. That could be a quick reminder in Slack, an integrated video in your CRM, or a knowledge check tied to a workflow in your project management tool. No extra logins. No calendar blocking. Just relevant training, delivered when and where it’s needed.
This approach doesn’t just improve completion rates. It reduces context switching, cuts down on delays, and helps turn compliance into a habit.
Why it matters
The best training is the kind people barely notice. Flow-of-work learning makes compliance feel less like an interruption and more like second nature.
5. Compliance training isn’t just for employees anymore
Customers, partners, suppliers, and third-party audiences in general are becoming a bigger part of the compliance picture. And ignoring them is starting to look like a risk companies can’t afford.
Whether it’s data security, anti-bribery, accessibility, or industry-specific regulations, external groups often need the same level of training and documentation as internal teams. In some industries, like healthcare or manufacturing, third-party gaps can create major compliance issues (especially when audits come around).
According to KPMG, 73% of organizations have experienced at least one significant disruption caused by a third party within the past three years. That kind of risk has a direct impact on compliance, operations, and reputation.
Modern learning tools streamline how you deliver and track compliance. You can segment content, control access, and track completions across different groups without needing a separate platform or a manually edited spreadsheet. And from a business standpoint, it pays off. Better-trained partners and vendors reduce risk, improve operational consistency, and make it easier to meet shared regulatory requirements.
Why it matters
Compliance doesn't stop at the org chart. The more connected your network is, the more your training needs to be built to reach everyone in it.
Regulatory changes across industries
Compliance doesn’t look the same across industries, and neither should your training. From financial services to tech, each sector is facing its own mix of regulatory pressure, third-party risk, and audit scrutiny. Let’s break down what’s changing in 2025 and 2026 across key industries, so you can build content that keeps your teams (and your business) in the clear.
Financial services
In financial services, compliance isn’t slowing down. AML and KYC rules are getting stricter, especially around foreign ownership and digital assets. Crypto oversight is ramping up too, with new frameworks for stablecoins and DeFi changing how digital assets are handled. Operational resilience is under review, with regulators looking more closely at how financial institutions manage third-party vendors and cloud providers. As definitions evolve and regulations multiply, training needs to be equally adaptable, prioritizing relevance, real-time updates, and ongoing development.
Healthcare and life sciences
Compliance training in healthcare and life sciences is facing more pressure from all sides. AI use in diagnostics and treatment is under scrutiny, with regulators focused on bias, safety, and oversight in clinical settings. At the same time, updates to HIPAA and GDPR are putting data interoperability and patient privacy in the spotlight, especially for workforces operating across borders. There’s also growing attention on supply chain transparency, particularly for pharmaceuticals and medical devices, as tariffs, funding shifts, and global divergence add complexity. Training programs need to help teams navigate these layers clearly, accurately, and with a close eye on patient safety.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing compliance is getting more technical, more global, and more urgent. New regulations are focusing on product safety and sustainability, especially when it comes to emissions and EV batteries. AI-driven automation is also drawing attention, with increased oversight on safety and its impact on labor.
On top of that, export controls are tightening. Geopolitical tensions have put more pressure on manufacturers to manage trade compliance and navigate shifting rules around dual-use technologies. In a sector built on precision (literally), training needs to be just as targeted, clear, role-specific, and designed to keep operations moving while staying compliant.
Retail
“15 minutes could save you 15%” used to be marketing. In retail compliance, brand promises like that are increasingly coming with more fine print and legal requirements. Digital ad practices and consumer data use are being reevaluated, especially with expanding state-level rules around privacy and AI. ESG claims are also on regulators’ radars as greenwashing enforcement ramps up, with stricter standards for how sustainability is marketed. And children’s online safety is getting serious attention, pushing platforms and eCommerce companies to rethink how they handle data, analytics, content, and user experience.
Retail moves fast, but unfortunately, compliance doesn’t forgive speed. The right training helps your teams avoid costly mistakes while keeping the customer experience intact.
Technology, media, and communications
Similarly, the tech industry moves fast. And regulation moves carefully. But both are somehow arriving at the same meetings at the same time. Today, AI-powered content moderation, algorithmic transparency, and deepfake regulation are top priorities, especially as platforms face more pressure to show how decisions are made. Cross-border data flows and cloud compliance are also under review, raising the bar for how global providers manage infrastructure and access. Meanwhile, cybersecurity standards are being harmonized across jurisdictions, with a renewed focus on critical infrastructure and threat reporting.
Deepfakes, data flow, and digital oversight aren’t just buzzwords; they’re all real-world risks. A learning platform helps keep your people (both internal and external) ahead of the curve, with real-time updates, role-specific content, and proof you’re doing it right.
Make future compliance trends part of your learning plan
Compliance training isn’t a once-a-year task anymore. It’s a core part of how organizations like yours reduce risk, stay audit-ready, and keep up with constantly shifting regulations.
As new rules take shape around AI, cyberattacks, ESG, and data privacy, the pressure to train faster (and show it) keeps growing. Each trend adds more complexity, more oversight, and less room for error. That means your training can’t just check a box. It has to be built for change.
A forward-thinking strategy in 2025 means moving toward training that’s flexible, role-specific, and easy to update when the regulations change. It means making compliance part of your workflows, not an afterthought. And it means having the tools to support your teams as risks shift and expectations rise.
Looking to strengthen your compliance strategies, along with tools to help? Take a look at our courses on implementing impactful compliance training across internal and external audiences inside Absorb Academy. You don’t need to be a customer, just log in for instant access.
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