iVentiv Ltd

Where is L&D best placed to offer strategic leadership in an era of change? How can Learning leaders leverage culture, behavioural science, and industry research?

iVentiv’s Learning Futures LA (November 10-11) will be hosted by USC Marshall Executive Education for the third consecutive year, giving you the chance to address the big questions facing CLOs.

USC Marshall is one of the leading business schools in the US, with a 100-year history forged in deep ties with companies and business leaders. Just as their core curriculum emphasises hands-on learning, Learning Futures LA is built around hands-on work, so that you and your peers can learn from each other and build new ideas.

Highlights of Learning Futures LA include:

🔸 A bespoke ‘CLO Simulation’ in the USC Experiential Learning Center, with one-way glass and live assessment from USC experts as you take on a competitive simulation designed specifically for Learning leaders.

🔸 Breakout discussions led by Michelle Lang (Director, Learning & Development, IHOP), Heather Stefanski (Partner, Chief Learning Officer, McKinsey & Co.), and John Jell (Director, Organizational Development, Dole Packaged Foods)

🔸 Interactive discussions guided by Event Chair Tyra Malzy, Chief People Officer at Zoi, one of the world’s most innovative healthcare technology firms, and former CLO at Mazars, Kerin, and JLL.

Leading in the new world of business requires more than listening to presentations. It’s time to learn together and apply it to the real world in real time.

Registration for Learning Futures LA is free thanks to event partners USC Marshall Executive Education, Abilitie, Guild, and Center for Creative Leadership. Find out more and sign up today: https://iventiv.com/events/learning-futures/learning-futures-la-executive-knowledge-exchange-2026?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=organic_social&utm_campaign=NJAE_040826

TEAM TRAVEL FAVOURITES 🌍🧡

The iVentiv team has been reflecting on some of the incredible places they've been lucky enough to visit over the years. Whether we're travelling for events, exploring new cities, or spending time together outside of work, those shared experiences help bring our team even closer.

So, we asked the team:
📍 What's your favourite place you've ever been to?

Take a look through their answers and discover the destinations that have left a lasting impression on the people behind iVentiv. ✈️

🧡 What makes an iVentiv event?

We looked back at feedback from our Executive Knowledge Exchanges over the past year to find the words that came up time and time again.

The top five were:
🤝 Connections
💡 Learning
💬 Conversations
🌍 Community
✨ Format

For us, these words perfectly capture what iVentiv is all about.

Our events aren't about sitting through presentations. They're about bringing senior leaders together to have meaningful conversations, learn from one another, build lasting connections, and leave with practical ideas they can take back to their organisations.

After every event, the whole iVentiv team comes together to debrief, reflecting on what went well and where we can make the next experience even better. Many of our team also take the time to read through every piece of delegate feedback because understanding your experience is at the heart of everything we do.

A huge thank you to everyone who has shared their feedback with us. Your insights continue to shape every iVentiv experience.

📢 LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER! 📢

Only three weeks to go until Learning Futures San Francisco on 18 and 19 August 👇

Event Chair Tamar Elkeles (Former Chief Learning Officer, Qualcomm) will be joined by Fernando De León (Senior Director, Global Head of Technology Learning, Visa), who will host this year's Executive Knowledge Exchange at Visa's Mission Rock HQ. Together, they'll welcome an outstanding line-up of Learning leaders, including:

🔸 Joshua Clark | Chief Learning Officer | IBM
🔸 Gordon Trujillo | VP, Enterprise Talent Management & Learning & Development | DaVita
🔸 Kerry O'Keeffe | Senior Director, Global Learning & Development | Gilead Sciences
🔸 Chris Lawson | SVP, Head of Global Talent Management & Inclusion | Rakuten
🔸 Humera Malik Shahid | VP, Talent, Development & Inclusion | WD
🔸 Lawrence Stevens | Director, Skills & Learning Ecosystem | Cisco
🔸 Chrissy Roth-Francis | Director, Learning & Development | LinkedIn
🔸 Lisa Kleinhofer | Talent Acceleration & Succession Strategy Lead | Agilent Technologies
🔸 Luke Owings | Chief Product Officer | Abilitie
🔸 Kian Katanforoosh | CEO & Founder | Workera
🔸 Denise Shepherd | Managing Director, Chief Learning Officer | Deloitte US
🔸 Siya Raj Purohit | Education GTM Leader | OpenAI
🔸 Edgar Jones | Founder, Luminated in Thought, and Former Linebacker | NFL
🔸 Gregg Collins | Chief Learning Scientist |NIIT
🔸 Brandon Dickens | VP, Advanced Solutions | NIIT

Across two days, you'll explore topics including AI-native enterprises, leadership development, sustainable high performance, peer coaching, and collaborative breakout discussions focused on real business challenges. You'll benchmark with peers, exchange ideas, and leave with practical strategies you can take back to your organisation.

Registration is free for CLOs, VPs, and Global Heads of Learning thanks to our event partners Abilitie, Emeritus, Degreed, Sana, General Assembly, NIIT, Workera and Hone.

Save your place here:
https://iventiv.com/events/learning-futures/learning-futures-san-francisco-executive-knowledge-exchange-3?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=organic_social&utm_campaign=WLLL_150726_LFSF_180826

📈 Organisational Development and Design is increasingly on Learning and Talent’s radar.

The proportion of Learning leaders who say Organisational Development is a top priority has increased from 10% in 2025 to 25% in 2026 as a top priority for Global Heads, a rise of 14.2%.

Why?

A report from McKinsey (The State of Organisations 2026: Three Tectonic Forces That Are Reshaping Organisations) puts it down to organisations navigating three major forces at once:

🤖 AI adoption
📉 Economic uncertainty
👥 Changing workforce structures

Based on what the L&D and Talent executives attending iVentiv events say, a shift towards designing how work gets done could be another significant factor. Senior leaders refer to developing “skills and experience that was once developed through repetitive work but is now automated” or to designing roles, not just learning programmes.

In other words, it isn’t enough for L&D and Talent to create programmes and development paths. They have to design the actual work itself as ell.

💬 How are these forces shaping the way your organisation is evolving?

REVEALED: The data that shows what’s top of mind for Global Heads of Learning and Talent around the world, and how that's shifted.

The headline? There’s an intrinsic link between Artificial Intelligence, Reskilling & Upskilling, and Learning Culture.

🔸AI interest has risen significantly, from 41% in 2024 to almost 65% in 2026 so far. AI has moved from being an emerging tech topic to, in many cases, enterprise-wide adoption.

In early 2024, many organisations were still experimenting with generative AI through pilots, individual tools and relatively narrow use cases. By 2025 and 2026, our data shows that the conversation had expanded to include AI agents, workflow redesign, governance, productivity, workforce composition and the division of work between people and machines.

With AI developments came the imperative for workplaces to work alongside AI as fluently or as comfortably as they work with search engines. Gráinne Wafer, Global Head of Field Enablement, Udemy Business has argued that ‘the core challenge isn’t teaching people how to use the technology. It’s really much bigger. It’s about rewiring the enterprise to play, to experiment, and to find ways to incorporate AI into workflows.’

🔸Reskilling & Upskilling is a topic that rose in prominence in 2025 for 55.3% of iVentiv attendees, alongside this surge in AI; a parallel that is unlikely to be coincidental.

Why? AI could well be the force pushing skills initiatives forward. Not only is AI changing the skills employees need, but it’s also changing how Learning and Talent teams approach skills themselves. Respondents to the survey describe work around competence frameworks, skill mapping, gap analysis, personalised growth plans, and AI-enabled coaching.

Further, in 2025, iVentiv’s Pulse data shows that organisations increasingly translated AI anxiety into a workforce capability question: rather than asking 'what does AI mean for our organisation?', leaders began asking 'what will our people need to learn to remain adaptable?'

🔸Learning culture was also a prominent topic in 2025 at 30.8% and has continued to rise in our top topics ranking for 38.2% of leaders in 2026; a rise that may represent a period in which leaders are focused on creating the conditions for continuous adaptation amidst unprecedented disruption.

What we can see from the qualitative responses is that Heads of L&D are asking ‘how learning culture and systems can empower and support employees in their upskilling and career journey in the context of AI transformation’.

When future skill requirements are uncertain, organisations cannot address the problem solely through a fixed curriculum. Experts argue that they need employees to experiment, share knowledge, learn in the flow of work and continually update their capabilities. On this topic, Laura Medina, Head of Global Learning & Development, DEKRA, captures the consensus well when she says that ‘learning has to become part of a strategic… second nature… that’s what’s then going to lead into actions and habits.’

A strong learning culture becomes a form of organisational insurance against uncertainty.

What’s next for Global Heads of Learning, Talent, and Leadership? We’ll keep monitoring how these topics continue to evolve in 2027 and beyond.

As L&D leaders, you don’t need another PowerPoint. You need to navigate a skills revolution, support leaders, and demonstrate impact.

iVentiv’s Learning Futures Paris (22-23 September) is built to help you take on those challenges together, guided by some of L&D’s biggest hitters. Instead of one-way, ‘sit and listen’ sessions, the two-day interactive exchange includes interactive discussions on:

🔸 Leadership transformation with Marie Dominique Francois - Berger (Culture & Leadership Transformation Director, Dassault Systèmes)
🔸 Strategic workforce planning and business impact with Sarah ICHCHOU (VP, Talent & Development, IDEMIA)
🔸 Learning transformation with Lara (Dakwar) Morreale (Global Head of AI Learning Transformation, AXA XL)
🔸 Leadership programmes and whether they are still fit for purpose with Rebecca Hoffmann (Global Head of Learning & Development, Oerlikon)

That’s in addition to:

🔸 Focused sessions with Klaus Scheile Schiele (VP, Global L&D, Talent & Engagement, SES Satellites), Romina Cavallucci (Global Director, Learning & Development, Carrefour), and Lucie GASMI (Global Head of Talent Management, SUEZ)
🔸 Workshops facilitated by expert event chair, Charles Jennings (Director, Duntroon Consultants and Co-Founder, 70:20:10 Institute)

Event partners Workera, Valence, HEC Paris Executive Education, EF Corporate Learning, Hult Ashridge Executive Education, Coursera, 360Learning, CoachHub, and BTS will also be on hand to share their insights and expertise.

iVentiv has delivered more than 300 events since 2009, with a 93% all-time event satisfaction score.

Attendance is free but limited to a select group of 40 Heads of Learning. Register your interest now to avoid disappointment: https://iventiv.com/events/learning-futures/learning-futures-paris-executive-knowledge-exchange-7?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=organic_social&utm_campaign=WLLL_210726_LFParis_220926