Being Intrepid: Navigating the Future of Learning with Sam Herring

Traditional change management models were built for a different era. Today's leaders face complexity that's faster, messier, and less predictable than any framework anticipated. Recorded live at ATD26, Sam Herring spoke with Karie Willyerd, Head of Strategic Engagements at GP Strategies, about what it takes to prepare leaders for AI-driven change. They explore practical strategies for help...

Learning budgets are usually the first to get cut when business gets tight. That's not inevitable — it's a symptom of a CLO who's playing defense instead of connecting their work to the income statement.  Ted Forbes — author of Making HR Matter (with co-author David Alsop), former CLO at Capital One, and CHRO at Cotopaxi and Backcountry — joins Sam Herring to talk about what makes HR a...

When organizations kick off AI and agentic transformation — redesigning workflows, reimagining roles — business and technology leaders run the work. Learning leaders are rarely in the room. By the time L&D gets called, the decisions are made and the upskilling need is already behind.    Yulia Barnakova, AI Innovation and Learning Advisor at Accenture and faculty in Accenture's AI Academy f...

At ServiceNow, the speed at which customers and partners can be certified is a real constraint on the company’s commercial growth. That makes learning a true strategic enabler — and it changes what L&D is accountable for.  Shellie Grieve, Director of Learning Innovation and Emerging Technology at ServiceNow, joins Sam Herring to discuss how cohort learning became the architecture for skills de...

Physicians are trained to have the right answer under pressure. But when a doctor becomes a CEO, that expertise can become a ceiling. The real work is an identity shift, from expert to enterprise leader.  Raj Ramachandran, Senior Partner for Leadership Advisory at WittKieffer, joins Sam Herring to unpack how he develops senior healthcare leaders through executive coaching, stoic philosophy, and st...

Most enterprise AI investments are funded backwards—93% to technology, 7% to people—and the ROI is falling short as a result. In this episode, Sam Herring sits down with Matt Stevens, Managing Director for Human Performance and Learning at Deloitte Consulting, to explore what it actually takes to move AI from fragmented pilots to enterprise-wide adoption.  Matt draws on client work across financia...

How do you build strong onboarding experiences in a healthcare organization where the work is both operationally complex and deeply human?  In this episode of Being Intrepid, Sam Herring sits down with Gordon Trujillo, Vice President and Head of Talent Management and Development at DaVita Kidney Care.  DaVita welcomes thousands of caregivers into the organization each year—nurses, patient care tec...

In this episode of Being Intrepid, Sam Herring sits down with Malika Viltz-Emerson, Chief Learning Officer at Allstate, to explore what happens when leaders meet learners where they are.  Anchored by a powerful story about helping a mother and daughter navigate an escalator for the first time, Malika challenges learning leaders to recognize that every learner starts from a different place. She sha...

In this episode of Being Intrepid, Sam Herring talks with Scott Blanchard, CEO at Blanchard, about what leadership looks like in a time when people show up to work already stressed. Scott shares why psychological safety is a real prerequisite for learning, what still matters most as the “how” of leadership development shifts, and why spaced learning over time can outperform the one-day workshop. ...

How do you design executive education that creates business impact at scale?  In this episode of  Being Intrepid , Sam Herring speaks with Anna Seguret, Executive Director of Participant Experience at INSEAD Executive Education. Anna shares how her background in video game development shaped her approach to learning design, and why the future of executive education lies in immersive, learner-cente...

Most organizations exploring skills strategies remain “skills curious” to skills ready, and struggle with where to start. In this episode of  Being Intrepid , Sam Herring sits down with Craig Friedman, Talent and Skills Transformation Leader at St. Charles Consulting Group, and author of  Enterprise Skills Unlocked  to demystify skills-based talent strategies and what they mean for learning leader...

Imposter syndrome is part of the human experience worldwide, but generative AI and rapid change are amplifying it in new ways.  In this DevLearn Unwrapped episode of Being Intrepid, Betty Dannewitz, Learning Solutions Architect at Blanchard and host of the  ifyouaskbetty podcast , joins host Sam Herring to explore how imposter syndrome shows up for L&D professionals, how technology can trigger...

In this DevLearn Unwrapped episode of Being Intrepid, Megan Torrance, CEO (Chief Energy Officer) and Founder of TorranceLearning, joins host Sam Herring to unpack Agile learning project management with the LLAMA framework, her three-zone view of AI in L&D, and new research on what tools organizations are actually using. Megan explains how to design for change, avoid “random acts of AI,” and ke...

Virtual classrooms have come a long way from early corporate training experiences in the 2000s to the emergency pivot to Zoom and Teams in 2020, yet many organizations are still suboptimizing virtual learning experiences.  In this DevLearn Unwrapped episode of  Being Intrepid , Cindy Huggett, virtual training expert, consultant, facilitator, author, and speaker, joins host Sam Herring to explore h...

Sometimes big transformations begin with a small problem. For Nick Bird, that problem was improving audio quality for e-learning and it opened the door to exploring new ways of designing and facilitating learning experiences with genAI tools.  In this DevLearn Unwrapped episode of  Being Intrepid , Nick Bird, Director of Learning and Development at American Tire Distributors, joins host Sam Herrin...

What happens when you look at learning strategy through the lens of cognitive science instead of the latest buzzwords?  In this DevLearn Unwrapped episode of  Being Intrepid , Sam Herring sits down with Clark Quinn, Executive Director at Quinnovation, to explore how learning science, spaced learning, and reactivation should shape modern design. Clark shares his journey from early computer-based ed...

In this DevLearn Unwrapped episode of Being Intrepid , Sam Herring sits down with Josh Cavalier, Founder and CEO of JoshCavalier.ai and author of Applying AI in Learning and Development: From Platforms to Performance . Josh shares how his diverse background in art, science, and technology prepared him for the rapid rise of generative AI, and why he believes L&D roles are shifting toward what h...

Healthcare is complex and getting more digital every day. How do you prepare a frontline workforce for that reality while staying focused on human connection and business impact?    In this episode of Being Intrepid, Sam Herring sits down with Christy Pletcher, Vice President of Learning & Development at UnitedHealthcare, to explore how her team is reshaping learning in a high-stakes, highly r...

How do leaders actually execute on strategy in a volatile world? They start by taking an honest assessment of their life experiences and recognize how they show up at work. They get curious about their teammates’ life experiences. And they have the courage to help the team talk openly about the patterns and hidden rules on their teams that may hold them back.    In this episode, Janet McDonald, CE...

How do you turn learning into Cisco’s innovation engine?    Cisco Chief Learning Officer Marci Paino joins host Sam Herring to share how her team anchors learning to business strategy, builds AI skills for the everyday worker, and scales quality through continuous feedback. From the global AI Workforce Consortium to Cisco’s new “Edge Up” learning experience, Marci offers a practical blueprint for...

The L&D market is bigger and louder than ever – and it’s never been more challenging to navigate as a learning leader. In this candid conversation, RedThread Research Co-Founder and Principal Analyst Dani Johnson maps what’s changing and what leaders should do next. From the post-pandemic drop in L&D influence to the real promise of GenAI, Dani offers practical direction and a sharper defi...

Professional learning is shifting fast. Simplicity, integration, and trust now define great experiences for customers, partners, and credentialed professionals.    In this episode, host Sam Herring talks with Corri McQuaid, Senior Manager of Business Development, Professional Learning and Enterprise at VitalSource, about delivering secure, scalable content and applying learning science in the flow...

This special crossover episode of Being Intrepid and SBI, The Growth Advisory brings together Sam Herring (Intrepid by VitalSource) and Ray Makela (SBI Growth Advisory) to explore how AI is reshaping sales, enablement, and learning. They swap insights on how: AI is changing sales coaching and buyer engagement Hyper-personalized learning is transforming collaborative cohorts Sales managers and L&am...

Brian Hackett didn’t set out to start a movement—he just needed advice. That simple ask turned into The Learning Forum and CLO Lift: two platforms where learning leaders rewrite the future of work, one challenge at a time.    In this episode of Being Intrepid, Sam Herring interviews Brian on:  His unexpected path from fired to founder  The “big lie” of AI productivity  Why the CLO title may be fad...

How can learning leaders prepare their organizations for the AI revolution?    In this episode of Being Intrepid , Sam Herring talks with Tal Goldhamer, founder of Find The Tailwind and former CLO at EY, about practical strategies for AI upskilling, why mindset is key, and how formal learning itself will evolve.  What you'll learn:  How to design practical AI upskilling strategies for your wor...