In 2026, the need for creative, authentic, human-centered learning experiences is bigger than ever.

As a learning experience design pioneer, I’ve been advocating a different design approach for close to twenty years now. Over time, the circumstances have changed, but my mission has always been the same: to improve the lives of learners by designing carefully crafted learning experiences that really make a difference.

Technology is part of designing learning experiences. From ancient technology, like pen and paper, to current developments in artificial intelligence, the technological possibilities are endless. That’s as exciting as it is daunting.

There’s a pattern in the world of learning where new technology dominates the debate about the future of learning. Whether it is virtual reality, augmented reality, computer games, social media, phones, tablets or artificial intelligence, the debate often overlooks real-world implications.

For example, not too long ago the use of social media was seen as a viable option to make learning more engaging. Today, Australia has banned social media accounts for kids, as it is pretty clear that there are major downsides to using social media.

Artificial intelligence has great potential. Let’s use it thoughtfully and focus on what really matters: the people you design for and helping them reach their goals. The more technology is present in our lives, the more we crave for personal experiences that enlighten and touch us. Let’s design for that!

We've spent 2025 hearing that the volume and velocity of change will only increase. Fair enough; now it's time to respond. For 2026, I see two overarching themes that will define how effective L&D practitioners work.

First, experiment-led design. Borrowed from the product world, this means spending more time understanding the deep-seated blockers to performance within our organisations, then quickly experimenting and iterating towards solving those problems rather than designing standalone interventions like e-learning courses or training programmes. This approach puts us back in control; it encourages us to observe, develop practical takeaways, test small ideas incrementally, and scale what works. We stop guessing and start proving.

Second, putting control in the hands of users. AI tools are letting L&D pump out content at scale, but that's not inherently useful. A piece of e-learning is only as good as the impact it has, and we've always been content-heavy. What we should be scanning for are tools that make our people's work lives easier, not tools that generate text. I'm looking towards assistants that help people do their jobs, and courseware that adapts using technologies like LLMs to deliver exactly what someone needs when they need it, not the L&D team's best guess from six months prior.

In 2026, as AI takes over more of the information-delivery side of learning, the real differentiator in L&D will no longer be the technology itself. It will be the quality of the human experience wrapped around that technology.

Yet most organisations still rely on learning formats that are content-heavy, intellectual, and disconnected from what people actually struggle with and what motivates them. When learning remains superficial and transactional, behaviour doesn’t shift. Employees feel disconnected from each other, the culture, and their work. There is no meaningful impact, organisations lose time, energy, and credibility, and attrition rises as competitors who invest in their people pull ahead.

Forward-thinking organisations are already moving toward a different kind of development, one designed to create connection and transformation.

This happens when we intentionally create spaces where people can reinterpret their experiences, question the assumptions driving their behaviour, and discover new meaning in their work and relationships. Crucially, this doesn’t happen only on an intellectual level. It happens on a deep, embodied, felt level.

When this level of learning is activated, something shifts. Learning stops being an obligation and becomes a moment of clarity, a reframing, often a transformation. This is human learning that stays with people. It’s the opposite of “boring.” It’s embodied, experiential, contextualised, and emotionally resonant learning that strengthens connection to each other, to the organisation and its culture, and to the work people are doing.

When learning is designed this way, people experience real personal insight and embody new behaviours. They apply new ways of working naturally, not out of compliance, but out of alignment. Teams feel more connected and engaged, and the organisation sees sustained impact on growth, productivity, and retention that lasts for years, not months.

As organisations often tell me, “This continues to shape our people long after the program ends.”

2026 should be focused on getting the basics right — doing real analysis before saying yes, aligning every request to business value, measuring impact beyond completion, and showing up as Trusted Learning Advisors instead of order takers. When L&D masters these fundamentals, everything else accelerates.