When language precision is mission-critical: Leadership advocacy in action at Syngenta

Discussions about AI-powered learning often focus on learner engagement or digital readiness. However, this can overlook one significant obstacle to implementation: leadership buy-in.

At Syngenta, a global agri-tech company operating in more than 90 countries, language precision is mission-critical across safety, compliance, and innovation. For regulatory teams navigating approvals worldwide, accurate legal and scientific communication directly affects market access and business outcomes.

Teresa Miralles, Talent & Culture Lead at Syngenta, explains how leadership sponsorship helped shape the company’s advanced AI-enabled language learning strategy and embed learning across a global workforce.

Many global organizations underestimate a key barrier to scaling coaching capabilities, which is a lack of language confidence at the leadership level. Leaders often understand coaching models intellectually but struggle to execute them because they lack the nuanced vocabulary required for powerful, developmental conversations.

Experience at Syngenta shows that the real challenge is linguistic execution. Without access to the right words, such as “assumption,” “perspective,” “constraint,” or “aspiration”, leaders hesitate, and coaching impact diminishes. Communication confidence shapes coaching effectiveness.

Language training alone does not go far enough; it must be integrated with coaching skill-building. When organizations create safe spaces for leaders to practice vocabulary within real coaching contexts, engagement rises, and business impact becomes measurable through higher employee engagement, stronger retention, and more innovative teams.

EF’s research supports this, as stronger language programs that are aligned to development goals lead to higher engagement. For example, 92% of very high maturity organizations (those with the strongest language programs) report high engagement and are nearly twice as likely to experience low turnover. These organizations foster psychological safety, allowing leaders to acknowledge and address capability gaps.

Isolated programs lack strategic positioning and co-creation, meaning their transformative capacity is limited. At Syngenta, every L&D initiative begins by defining the business problem or capability being built. Programs are co-designed with stakeholders, aligned to real needs, and co-led by business leaders, ensuring capability development is owned by the business rather than delivered in isolation by HR.

Powerful program design stems from this strategic alignment. While we recognize that language capability is essential as an organization, priorities can vary significantly by region. The challenge is the prioritization of which languages, for whom, and in what sequence, given finite resources. Clear baselines, milestone tracking, and continuous impact assessment keep initiatives tied to strategic goals.

Through our partnership with EF Corporate Learning, we’ve been able to embed AI-enabled language learning, which helps to meet the distinct needs of teams across regions. The approach blends AI-powered speech analysis, conversation simulations with avatars, personalized learning journeys, and writing feedback with experienced instructors who provide context and cultural nuance.

Senior leadership has been crucial to the success of this program and all our learning initiatives. Success depends on active sponsorship, visible role modeling, and embedding learning into performance expectations. When executives publicly commit to developing their own capabilities, it legitimizes learning across the organization. Ultimately, the fastest-advancing organizations aren’t those with the best tools but those whose leaders model continuous development themselves.