Artificial Intelligence (AI)

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The execution gap in L&D: Why strategic ambitions are outpacing reality

Ryan Austin

In a world of huge rising demand, reskilling pressure and AI acceleration, L&D keeps saying it must be strategic. But operational data shows execution is where things fail: prioritisation, flow, capacity and measurement. Ryan Austin argues the real shift is operating better, not doing more, and lays out the evidence. Over the past decade, the role of learning and development has been steadily redefined. L&D is no longer expected to simply deliver training. The expectation now is far broader and…

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Skills, not job titles: Rethinking workforce strategy in the AI age

Toby Hough

AI is accelerating change, but so many organisations are still built for stability, not speed. Toby Hough argues that shifting from job titles to a skills-first operating models helps businesses see capability, redeploy talent and retain people. With AI powering skills visibility and managers enabling growth, organisations can adapt faster. AI is reshaping work at speed. New tools are emerging regularly, automating tasks, augmenting decisions and changing what “good” looks like at every level. However, while technology is evolving quickly,…

"Should AI Hire" Organizations debate automated recruitment and selection processes today. HIRE. RECRUIT. SELECTION. HR. CANDIDATE.

Faster hiring or better hiring? Finding the human balance with AI

Kavneet Kaur

As artificial intelligence reshapes Talent Acquisition, organisations are gaining speed, scale and consistency across screening, scheduling and candidate engagement. Yet automation can amplify bias, erode trust and weaken human connection. Kavneet Kaur explores where AI delivers value, where it falls short, and how recruiters can protect fairness, empathy and judgment. The landscape of Talent Acquisition is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by the rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI). What was once a largely manual and relationship-driven function is now…

TJ L&D Influence Report 2026 front cover

The TJ L&D Influence Report 2026

Training Journal

After months exploring why L&D’s best evidence and intentions still stall, Editor Jo Cook shares a new report shaped by Training Journal’s 60th Anniversary Conference. It introduces the Readiness Enablers Index and highlights practical conditions like stakeholder access, data, experimentation and support. Download it free and join the 2026 survey. What helps L&D move from good ideas and strong intentions to meaningful action? That question sits at the heart of this new report. At the centre of the report is…

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Polycrisis mode: Why L&D needs an operating system, not a wish list

Phil Reddall

In time defined by AI, uncertainty and shifting norms, Phil Reddall argues L&D must stop reacting and start navigating. Using the Global Sentiment Survey and a Learning Operations mindset, he shows how data, business alignment and clear pillars help teams measure maturity, break silos and stay useful, today and beyond. “It’s time to draw our own map.” Don Taylor’s line from the Global Sentiment Survey (GSS 2026) has stayed with me because it captures something important about the moment we’re…

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Compliance, sales, leadership: Where AI makes learning sense

RK Prasad

AI is no longer a future-facing experiment for top L&D teams. In this article, RK Prasad explores how smart use of AI can shorten development cycles, tailor learning to different roles, and give employees rapid, in-work support. Done well, it strengthens human judgement, improves reporting, and helps organisations keep pace. Markets shift faster than training calendars. New regulations emerge mid-year. Products evolve quarterly. Skills become outdated almost as soon as they are learned. Yet many L&D teams are still expected…

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The AI upskilling mandate: An L&D strategy for the AI era

Lee Whitmore

In the rush to govern AI and fear automation, organisations are ignoring the most urgent issue: capability. This article argues HR and L&D must distinguish autopilot risks from co-pilot opportunity, move beyond basic AI prompt training, and prioritise critical thinking, synthesis and change leadership. Lee Whitmore sets a four-point plan. For the people profession, the conversation around AI has been dominated by two themes: the anxiety of automation (which jobs will be lost?) and the ethics of governance (how do…

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You won’t believe what’s hiding in your learning content (and what it’s costing you)

Robert Gadd

L&D are facing a massive, overlooked challenge: they don’t know what’s actually inside their digital learning content libraries. Years of content accumulation have resulted in outdated, duplicative, and siloed courseware across disconnected systems. This “invisible” content causes direct and hidden costs, but with AI, organisations can turn chaos into clarity. Companies don’t know what’s inside their learning content. Over the past two decades, enterprises have amassed vast libraries of digital training materials: SCORM packages, PDFs, videos, assessments, and more. These…

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The efficiency paradox: Why AI is speeding up work but slowing down leadership

Andrew Bryant

Andrew Bryant argues that AI-driven efficiency is outpacing leadership capability, creating an “efficiency paradox” where organisations perform better on paper but grow strategically weaker. He explores Klarna’s AI lesson, the shift from performance management to potential development, and why L&D must build leaders who unleash human judgement, creativity, and meaning. Organisations are getting faster. But they are not getting better at leading people. That is the uncomfortable truth at the centre of the AI revolution. As companies race to automate,…

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Three AI adoption patterns that look busy but break performance

Fahed Bizzari

Fahed Bizzari argues most organisations are just drifting into AI use, creating activity without dependable performance. He outlines three common patterns: waiting, rolling tools out, and mandating use, all of which fuel shadow AI: uneven quality and rework. He shows how L&D can build role-based capability, checking habits and accountability. Most organisations are already living with AI at work. People use it to draft, summarise, rewrite and plan. Some outputs are good. Most are just fast. A lot is quietly…