{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Harald’s Curious Corner","title":"The Future of L&D: AI, Skills Gaps & Staying Relevant in 2026","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/7b0d0611\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2694,"description":"L&D is at an inflection point. If you can't articulate the value of learning beyond completion rates and happy sheets, you risk becoming irrelevant in the AI era.In this episode, I sit down with our L&D Shakers panel, Andy Sontag, Milica Sapic, Debora Gallo, and Lori Niles-Hofmann, for an honest conversation about what's really happening in learning and development today. From the fear of being replaced by AI tools to rethinking L&D's role from course builders to experienced architects, we explore how leading practitioners are staying relevant, proving business value, and navigating the fastest-changing moment our profession has ever seen.We dig into how L&D teams are closing skills gaps with more precision, what it actually means to design learning as a process rather than an event, and how communities like L&D Shakers are helping practitioners sense-check, connect, and stay sane, before turning to a frank discussion about AI expectations, organizational transformation, and why the backend of learning technology is more important than ever.If you're working in L&D right now, this conversation will challenge you to move beyond delivering training and start architecting experiences that drive real human and business outcomes.Some curious takeaways:Why treating learning as an event, not a process, is killing your impactHow L&D teams are moving from course builders to experience architectsWhy human connection is still the one thing AI cannot replicateEpisode highlights:(00:00) Welcome to Harald’s Curious Corner(01:10) Meet the panelists(03:15) What's keeping L&D up at night right now(07:30) How communities like L&D Shakers keep us sane(08:30) What's actually exciting in L&D today(11:20) The role of the learning architect in the AI era(11:55) Are we really closing skills gaps or just running programs?(19:45) How AI has shifted expectations of L&D teams(22:25) Rethinking L&D from the ground Up(24:45) What stakeholders need to understand about L&D's value(28:10) The...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/FG-8Qa20DpR75migQzJyOrVTLX_iP1P41938xDc_r1c/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8xODkz/ZDhjYjM5YTA1NDk0/MjM0ZDVkNzIzNzU2/YmUyNi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}