Exposing L&D’s Operating Model: Navigating the Most Significant Disruption in L&D History with Tom Kupetis and Brandon Dickens

In this episode of The Learning & Development Podcast, David James is joined by Tom Kupetis and Brandon Dickens to explore how AI is revealing deep-seated flaws in the traditional L&D operating model. They discuss why the industry’s long-standing reliance on static content and "one size fits all" curricula is no longer fit for purpose in a world where expertise is now available on tap.

Tom and Brandon reflect on the shift from managing content production to facilitating "action learning," where L&D practitioners must act more like business consultants to drive real performance change. They delve into the return of the apprenticeship model - now enabled at scale through AI - and how the role of L&D must evolve from a reactive cost centre into a high-value sensing engine that predicts and solves business failures in real-time.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

L&D will have to stop being course producers and become performance partners. Working directly alongside the people who do the jobs to build apprenticeship-style coaching using AI.

L&D must be deeply embedded in the business, driven by data and learning science, and judged on measurable performance outcomes, not on volume of training.

BEST MOMENTS

“Gen AI is … putting expertise on tap, basically.”

“When you're trying to get a team to really adopt AI and champion it … you have to create that aha moment.”

"If every L&D employee had the anthropic kind of ecosystem at their disposal, it would 10x what they're doing."