What if the ideas that L&D has been nodding at for thirty years are finally about to become unavoidable? Bob Mosher has spent his career arguing that training and performance are not the same thing — and that building courses, however well-designed, only meets two of the five moments when people actually need to learn. The other three happen in the workflow, at the point of need. Most of the profession has agreed with him in theory. Rather fewer have changed what they do.

In this conversation, John and Bob catch up on how generative AI is changing that picture. Bob describes what AI is actually doing inside live workflow learning projects right now — including a headline figure on development time that stopped John in his tracks — and explains why the digital coach, not the course, is becoming the central deliverable. They also dig into the risks: what happens when AI accelerates the wrong thing, why L&D needs a seat at the IT table before it's too late, and what it means to be a performance architect rather than a training order-taker in an AI-assisted world.

The boulder, Bob says, has been going uphill for a long time. He thinks it's about to roll back. This episode is about what happens when it does.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Start

01:55 - Intro

04:27 - The five moments of need

08:14 - How has AI changed the conversation about workflow learning?

10:44 - How does AI save time?

24:07 - Risks to workflow learning from AI

31:42 - Has AI caused a rethink in practice?

40:19 - Workflow learning impact

53:38 - End

CONNECT WITH LEARNING HACK

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Does L&D know where it's going?

What separates the L&D functions that genuinely move organisations forward from those that stay busy but never quite shift the dial? That question has driven Laura Overton's research for over two decades — and it sits at the heart of The L&D Leader, the new book she co-authored with Michelle Ockers. Their answer, drawn from more than ten thousand L&D professionals and two hundred learning leaders, points not to new tools or models, but to something older and harder to teach: the ability to read the organisation, sense its currents, and navigate your own way to somewhere that matters.

In this episode John talks with Laura and Michelle about the ideas behind the book, which opens with the extraordinary story of the ancient Polynesian navigators — people who crossed 2,500 miles of open ocean without a compass or a clock. They discuss the lasting legacy of the pandemic for L&D, why two decades of research on workplace learning strategy show surprisingly little change in how most functions operate, and the risk that chasing the latest tool or model is actually damaging L&D's ability to drive real value.

And then there's the question that sits underneath all the talk of L&D maturity and business alignment: when we talk about driving value through learning, who exactly is that value for?

TIMESTAMPS

00:02:44 - Intro

00:05:55 - What was the genesis of the book?

00:10:04 - The collaboration — how Laura and Michelle came to write together

00:13:29 - Legacy of the pandemic for L&D

00:16:10 - Was the pandemic a 'golden period' for L&D?

00:19:42 - What are they telling people in The L&D Leader?

00:30:00 - The Polynesian navigators — and what they mean for L&D leadership

00:39:09 - Is technology causing 'skill fade' in L&D?

00:41:42 - How has the L&D community changed over two decades?

00:50:55 - Who gets the value from workplace learning — the learner or the stakeholder?

01:02:58 - End

CONNECT WITH LEARNING HACK

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Website: learninghackpodcast.com

The results of the 2026 Global Sentiment Survey are out — and the mood in workplace learning is uneasy. In this episode, John speaks with Donald H. Taylor about AI's "hangover moment," rising pressure on L&D teams, diverging regional trends, vendor anxiety, and what showing value really signals this year. Is this a temporary wobble — or a structural shift in what L&D is for?

00:00 - Start
02:21 - Intro
04:14 - Overview of this year's GSS
12:50 - Metaverse and virtual environments
21:59 - Opportunities and Challenges of AI
26:49 - More US respondents this year?
28:33 - Global differences in vibe?
33:46 - Personalisation and individualism
36:09 - New vs returning respondents
41:04 - The challenge of technology
52:47 - End

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer

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Website: learninghackpodcast.com