Busuu, the language learning service owned by the education company Chegg, announced on 30 September 2026 a new workplace experience that combines AI coaching with live lessons from human teachers. The company says it is evolving from a language app into what it calls an AI-powered language and workplace performance platform. The AI coaching and human tutoring are in a pilot, with wider access planned for late October, according to the announcement distributed by Business Wire from London.

Alongside the launch, Busuu published a survey of its own business learners about anxiety when speaking a second language at work. Here is what was announced, what the survey does and does not show, and what it means if you are choosing a language tool for yourself or for a team.

What Busuu announced

According to the release, the new experience combines personalised learning paths, AI coaching available around the clock for real work scenarios, live tutoring and peer practice. It puts language courses and workplace skills, such as presenting, negotiating and client communication, into a single learning path in the language being learned. Busuu says it is designed for outcomes like speaking up in meetings, leading presentations and handling client conversations across international teams.

The product sits within Busuu for Business, the company's offer for employers. Its business site lists 14 languages, Live Lessons with qualified teachers, an AI speaking partner for rehearsing presentations, client calls and interviews, and five foundational workplace modules: presenting ideas, giving feedback, workplace dynamics, cross-team collaboration and problem-solving. It says more than 600 organisations use the service. Pricing is not published; employers are asked to book a demo.

Busuu describes itself in the release as a Chegg service with more than 120 million registered users. Registered users is a count of accounts created, not of people actively learning.

What the survey found

The report, titled The Silent Cost of Language Anxiety at Work, is based on a survey of more than 1,000 workplace learners on Busuu across 64 countries, carried out in April and May 2026, according to the full text of the release. Its headline findings:

  • 90% of respondents said they prepare before high-stakes conversations, most often by writing a script (45%), using translation apps (43%), reviewing key vocabulary (41%) or rehearsing aloud (38%).
  • Only 24% said they use a language learning app to prepare.
  • 55% said they simplify what they want to say when using a second language, and 25% said they stay silent despite having something valuable to contribute.
  • 49% named unexpected or unplanned conversations as the biggest trigger of second-language anxiety, and 26% named regular international team calls as a recurring one.

These numbers are worth reading with care. The respondents were Busuu's own workplace learners, people already in a company language programme, so they are not a random sample of employees. The answers are self-reported, and the survey was published by a company launching a product designed to address the problem it describes. That does not make the findings wrong, and the pattern of scripting and rehearsing will be familiar to anyone who has worked in a second language. But it is a company survey, not independent research.

Why it matters

The launch fits a wider shift in the market: language companies are pairing AI practice with human teachers rather than choosing one or the other. Preply, which runs a marketplace of human tutors, announced in August 2025 a set of AI features built around its lessons, including Lesson Insights, Daily Exercises and Scenario Practice, with tutor-assigned speaking exercises between sessions. Busuu's move comes from the other direction, an app adding people. Both reflect the same conclusion: AI is good for repetition and for practising on demand, while a human teacher is still sold as the part that adapts to the learner and gives judgement on real performance.

The emphasis on workplace scenarios also reflects where many learners struggle. Course content in popular apps has been moving up the proficiency scale; Duolingo, for example, said in April 2026 that nine of its courses now teach content up to B2, the fourth of six levels of the Common European Framework of Reference. Speaking under pressure, in a meeting with a client or a senior colleague, is a different skill from completing lessons, and that is the gap Busuu is pitching its new product at.

What to do if you are choosing a tool

If you are an individual learner, this launch does not change much yet. It is aimed at employers and is still in a pilot. If your goal is speaking at work, the practical lesson from the survey is sound regardless of the product: practise unplanned conversation, not just scripted answers. A human tutor, a conversation exchange or an app's AI speaking feature can all help with that.

If you buy training for a team, ask any provider, Busuu included, a few direct questions before signing:

  • How is progress measured, and is it reported against a recognised scale such as the CEFR rather than lessons completed?
  • What does the AI coach assess, for example pronunciation, grammar or how well a task was handled, and how is a learner's recorded speech stored and used?
  • How many live lessons are included per learner, with what kind of teacher, and in which languages?
  • Can you run a short pilot with a small group and see the results before committing?

Pricing for business plans is usually quoted rather than published, so compare quotes per active learner, not per seat purchased. A plan that looks cheap per seat can cost more per person who actually uses it.

We will look at the product again once it is generally available and there is more than the company's own description to go on.