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 impact
- How L&D teams are moving from course builders to experience architects
- Why human connection is still the one thing AI cannot replicate
Episode 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 role of managers in learning transfer
(
41:00) One skill every L&D leader needs in the AI era
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What is Harald’s Curious Corner?
Harald’s Curious Corner is where curiosity meets connection.
Harald chases that question with a guest, gathers perspectives from voices across the industry, and then steps back to reflect on what it all means. The show unfolds like a story arc, part exploration, part roundtable, part reflection, blending imagination with analysis.
The result: trusted insights, meaningful conversations, and forward-looking takeaways that shine a light on where learning is headed next.