The AI Agent Era: When Systems Upskill Faster Than Humans

Recorded live at the 2026 ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego, this session featured Candice Faktor, Co-CEO at Disco; Sanjay Srivastava, CEO at Vocareum; Josh Allen, Group Director of Walmart Academy Learning at Walmart; Karen Kocher, General Manager of Global Learning and Skilling at Microsoft; and Brandon Sammut, Chief People and AI Transformation Officer at Zapier.The speakers explored how AI systems were now learning, adapting, and improving continuously—often faster than the workforce itself. They examined how, as people increasingly worked alongside intelligent systems they could not outpace, organizations needed to fundamentally rethink the foundations of learning, talent development, and workforce strategy.This session focused on how AI-native platforms that dynamically mapped skills, personalized learning, and evolved in real time could help close the growing gap between human capability and system advancement. Panelists examined what organizations needed to redesign so humans and AI systems could grow in sync, rather than compete on unequal timelines.The conversation highlighted how next-generation learning architectures could transform speed, adaptability, and human capability into lasting competitive advantage. At its core, this session examined how leaders could build systems where workforce development evolved as rapidly as technology itself—ensuring that organizations remained resilient, people remained relevant, and learning became a continuous engine for success in the AI agent era.