Future of L&D

This is a newsletter and blog about the future of learning and development — written for people doing the work, not people selling to them.

The L&D field is going through genuine disruption. AI is changing what's worth teaching, how learning gets designed, and what value practitioners can credibly claim. Most of the discourse around it is either uncritical enthusiasm or reflexive defensiveness. This publication is trying to do something harder: think clearly about what's actually happening and what it means for practice.

Topics covered here include the impact of AI on capability development, what it means for learning design as a discipline, the organisational and political dimensions of L&D, and the specific skills that seem most durable as the landscape shifts.

Who writes this

I'm Matt. I've spent 25+ years in learning and development, working across financial services, retail, and technology with organisations including Westpac, Commonwealth Bank, Woolworths, and Facebook. I've built L&D functions from scratch, run enterprise-scale programs, and now work independently through The Learning Dept. — a hybrid consultancy and specialist L&D recruitment firm based in regional Victoria, Australia.

I write this because I think the field deserves more serious thinking about where it's heading, and because working through these ideas in public keeps me honest about what I actually believe.

How to follow along

The best way is the newsletter — new pieces arrive in your inbox via Buttondown. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed if you prefer.