I spoke at TechLearn '25 on GenAI Powered Storytelling; Here's the recap!

TechLearn 2025 tackled some of the biggest challenges facing learning and development right now. AI readiness was a hot topic, naturally, but the conference also highlighted a return to basics — bringing back internal special interest groups to rebuild that sense of community we’ve been missing in a post-Covid world.

Sessions covered practical concerns like succession planning and capturing knowledge from retiring employees, plus the somewhat surprising comeback and increased demand for live and virtual instructor-led training. On the tech side, conversations centered on using vibe coding to facilitate better learning experiences between different applications, plus leveraging better data collection and pre-assessment tools to create truly personalized and adaptive learning paths.

The Learning Leaders’ Summit pre-conference event was incredibly valuable with high-tech and high-touch insights for L&D leaders. Next, the conference kicked off with a clever “test kitchen” format where participants speed-dated through different training challenges and solutions, which was an energetic way to get a good dose of design creativity. Tristia’s GenAI Storytelling & Gamification session was a clear hit with lots of positive feedback — if you missed it, she’s delivering it again at DevLearn in November.

And you can’t beat New Orleans as a backdrop — great food, sunny weather, and culture-rich. The conference organizers wrapped everything up with a sweet lagniappe of cake, fruit, and a live jazz band during a low-key networking hour where we reflected on our lessons learned and connections made.

Thank you, TechLearn, for a wonderful time — we’ll see you again next year!