How L&D Is Using AI Today — and What It Means for the Future
At the Learning Technologies Autumn Forum, online this October, Donald and Eglė will cut through the noise around AI and challenge attendees to consider what the emerging choices mean for the future of L&D.
Four years after the launch of ChatGPT, it is time to take stock of how AI is actually changing learning and development. Drawing on six reports produced over that period, Donald H Taylor and Eglė Vinauskaitė will share findings from their latest research, AI in L&D 2026: Tools vs Systems, and explore what four years of data reveal about where the profession is heading.
Their research suggests that L&D is beginning to separate into two broad groups. The larger is using AI primarily for efficiency — helping teams do what they have always done more quickly and cost-effectively. A smaller group is taking a more systematic approach, using AI to rethink not only learning practices but also how L&D connects with and contributes to the business. Neither approach is inherently right or wrong, but the path organisations follow should be a deliberate choice rather than the result of drift.
Eglė Vinauskaitė: ‘What four years of data reveal about where the profession is heading’
Drawing on data, practical examples, and their latest survey of more than 500 practitioners across over 50 countries, Donald and Eglė will cut through the noise around AI and challenge attendees to consider what the emerging choices mean for the future of L&D.
Key topics include:
- Leading and surprising uses of AI in L&D today
- How AI innovation in L&D has evolved over the past four years
- The growing divide between using AI for efficiency and using it for transformation
- What it takes to reach “escape velocity” with a systematic approach to AI
- The different futures emerging for L&D — and the choices that will shape them
"How L&D Is Using AI Today — and What It Means for the Future" takes place at the LTAF 2026 online event on Thursday, October 22, 2026 15:30 to 16:30.
The Learning Technologies Autumn Forum takes place online on 13, 15, 20 and 22 October. The conference programme is available from the Learning Technologies Autumn Forum website.
Donald H Taylor, Founder and Lead Researcher, The L&D Research Series
Donald H Taylor has worked in learning and technology since the mid-1980s. He has chaired the Learning Technologies Conference in London since 2000 and writes and speaks world-wide. His annual L&D Global Sentiment Survey, started in 2014, provides a unique perspective on L&D trends from over 100 countries. From 2010 to 2021, he chaired the Learning and Performance Institute.
Egle Vinauskaitė, Strategic Advisor, AI Transformation, Nodes
Egle Vinauskaite is an award-winning learning innovator and strategist advising blue chip companies, vendors and some of the most exciting edtech startups around. Combining evidence-based learning design, behavioural science and product development expertise, she specialises in using the latest technologies and approaches for digital and blended learning at and outside of work.