Change is here. How are you responding?

AI, global volatility, and shifting workforce dynamics are rewriting the rules of work. At the recent Learning and Development Institute (L&DI) Conference, one message rang loud and clear: organisations that learn, unlearn, and relearn fastest will lead in the future. Here’s what we took away – and why it matters.

How do you build a forward-facing workforce? One that can not only navigate through uncertainty, volatility and complexity but thrive through it?

These were the big questions explored at the conference. The consensus?

Adaptability is non-negotiable. The future of Learning and Development is now. Organisations must evolve fast, or risk slipping behind. Transformation is vital.

Your organisation’s response needs to focus on innovating and reshaping practices as AI and other global and economic forces change the way we work. At the heart of this shift lies leadership – upgrading leadership capacity is critical to being a change-ready organisation.

Led by leading thinkers in the world of AI, economic forecasting and innovation such as Daniel Susskind, Dr. Adele Whelan and Tom Kelley, we came away from the conference catalysed, energised and with a wealth of new perspectives and knowledge.

Several AI related themes emerged powerfully, and spoke to our own practice at Sheppard Moscow and our work with organisations across sectors and geographies such as the importance of absorbing and assimilating AI through transformation, adoption and encouraging uptake of AI in every area from operations to the executive suite.

AI: from disruption to co-creation 

AI had made an appearance at last year’s conference, but in the form of being a disruptor, causing a shift in the labour force, and creating the need to maintain a pipeline of knowledge and capability to monitor AI. There was some reference to ‘bright rebels’ (those already using tech to improve their working lives) carving out efficiencies with AI experimentation, but there wasn’t as much urgency.

This year? The tone was different. AI isn’t just coming, it’s here.

Organisations are facing into the reality of this world now. It’s actively reshaping jobs, lives and organisations before our eyes – keynote speaker Daniel Susskind addressed this in his talk ‘Rethinking growth, building human value in a changing world’. Within 5 - 10 years, AI may even outperform humans across most domains, with the increasing automation of ‘manual, cognitive and even affective tasks.’  

The implications for employment are profound – skill mismatches, identity shifts, and even the possibility of a shortage of work itself.  

Adele Whelen from the Economic and Social Research Institute highlighted the evolving skill requirement in the workplace with 50 - 60% of roles now requiring technological skills. Yet we face a challenges in the workforce. Skills aren’t where they need to be and the gap is widening.   

Then came the growth question.

AI can be a creative force itself, driving growth. As Susskind noted, resource-heavy growth is not sustainable. So, how do we achieve new growth sustainably? How do we respond to the skills gap challenge and complexities that AI throws up? Where does our place, as humans, lie in this new growth equation? 

One solution is to invest heavily in learning and development.

Teach people to use and critique AI, and to understand its limits. At the same time, promote flexibility of thought, a desire to learn, and the readiness to pivot. This will mean addressing the investment gap in mid and late-career reskilling, which is an often overlooked, but critically important, part of this puzzle.   

A powerful and inspiring idea that sparked interest for us was that investment in L&D would be the very cure for less resource-reliant growth. 

Automation, using AI as not only a tool but as a co-creator is feeding a loop:

Idea  >  Technology  >  Growth  >  More ideas. 

So, how do leaders who have a growth agenda usher in this new age of idea-led growth? How can they create the conditions for not only more ideas, but better ideas, and deeper sense-making? If growth is coming from ideas, then it is ultimately coming from people (supported, but not replaced by, technology) indicating new growth evolution.  

As Deborah Gray, Partner, highlighted in her recent piece on AI, the impact that AI will have on our organisations will “make space for a more reflective, human-centred approach”. The real future of growth is about humanness.  

It’s about leadership that fosters psychologically safe environments to encourage change and curiosity, and support experimentation and innovation. This kind of culture will be an essential enabler of successful AI adoption, and is something that we foreground in our work at Sheppard Moscow. 

This is why investing in your people will be a key driver in the future success and growth of your organisation. 

If you would like to read more, check out our insights on ‘Leadership and AI’ series: ‘Leveraging culture and smart discourse to lead through the rise of AI’ (part 1), and ‘How to lead an AI enabled team’ (part 2).