AI productivity gains risk being lost without work redesign, says Erica Farmer
AI may be helping individuals produce more, but organisations will not see the full performance benefit unless they rethink how work, roles and decision-making operate around it, according to AI strategist Erica Farmer.
Farmer will explore the issue as keynote speaker at TJ Conference 2026: L&D Means Business, taking place on 21 September at the Royal Society of Chemistry in London.
Her keynote, The AI fire hydrant: Turning more output into better performance, will examine the growing gap between individual AI productivity and organisational performance.
While AI can increase the speed and volume of individual output, many of the systems surrounding that work remain unchanged. Managers have more material to review, teams have more documents and ideas to assess, meetings continue at the same pace and existing sign-off and decision-making processes can become bottlenecks.
Farmer said: “The conversation about AI needs to move beyond individual productivity. Producing more doesn’t automatically mean the organisation performs better. We need to look at how work, roles and decision-making are changing around AI, and the part L&D can play in helping organisations redesign for what comes next.”
The keynote will be followed by an interactive workshop in which delegates will examine what these changes mean for their own roles, organisations and clients. Participants will explore how their work may need to be reshaped, what they need to do differently and what needs to change around them.
Farmer is a global speaker, trainer, author and AI strategist specialising in future skills, human potential and the future of work. She has more than 25 years’ experience across learning, development and apprenticeships and is host of the AI for the Average Joe podcast.
The TJ Conference 2026 will focus on the wider theme of L&D Means Business, exploring how learning and development can become more closely involved in performance, organisational priorities, work redesign and business decision-making.
Training Journal Editor Jo Cook said: “AI gives us a very current example of why L&D needs to be closer to the work of the organisation. The question isn’t simply how we help people use a new technology. It’s what happens to roles, workflows, capability and performance as that technology changes the way work gets done.”
The conference is deliberately limited to 60 delegates, with an emphasis on participation, practical work and peer discussion rather than a traditional presentation-led format.
Tickets are now on sale at £250 +VAT, with the first 30 places available at an early bird price of £125 +VAT.
Find out more and book tickets at TrainingJournal.com/TJConference
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