AI Beyond the Hype: What L&D Needs to Get Right About Performance, Skills and the Future of Work | L&D Disrupt | Episode 104

In this episode of L&D Disrupt, host Kelsey speaks with Derek Bruce, Chief Learning Officer at Easygenerator, about what's holding L&D back and what the function needs to become next.Derek argues that learning teams spend too much time creating content instead of making better use of what already exists, and that L&D must become more closely connected to performance, skills, and business priorities by consistently asking one simple question: "So what?" He shares why learning needs to happen quickly and in the flow of work, why managers should be involved throughout the learning journey rather than only at the end, and why measuring application and business impact matters more than completion rates and satisfaction scores. The conversation also explores AI beyond the hype, covering practical applications for trend analysis, efficiency gains, coaching and practice at scale, and improving learning experiences, while addressing concerns around AI replacing jobs or encouraging shortcuts. Derek explains why transparency, guardrails, and human expertise remain essential as organisations adopt AI, challenges the growing obsession with overly complex skills taxonomies, and outlines his vision for the future of L&D as a more business-facing, facilitative function embedded across the employee lifecycle. Derek's hot take for L&D teams? Stop building more content and start solving business problems.00:00 AI Learning Gaps01:32 Welcome and Introductions02:44 What's Wrong With L&D04:00 Link Learning to Performance06:17 Managers Enable Application08:02 AI Beyond the Hype10:13 AI Cheating and Trust13:55 Human First AI Second18:57 Common AI Mistakes23:04 Protect Entry Level Skills26:52 Skills Based Organisations30:11 Reorgs and Future Skills33:17 Future Role of L&D35:58 Stop Vanity Metrics37:42 Closing Thanks