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Learning Technologies (LT) is arguably the biggest date in the L&D calendar – and the 2026 edition certainly didn’t disappoint. The exhibition hall was packed: hundreds of stands, a full seminar programme, a global audience and more conversation about the future of learning than you’d think you could fit into just two days.
You might have spotted us there too – it was hard to miss the big orange sun floating above the Omniplex Learning stand. We were on the ground for both days, hosting mission control for demos, conversations, insights and a few too many frozen yoghurts.
Whether you were there soaking it all in, or watching from afar on LinkedIn, we’ve got you covered. Here are the topics that had everyone talking at LT 2026.
1. AI has moved from possibility to practice
No LT round-up this year would be complete without talking about AI in L&D. Everywhere you looked – from the exhibition floor to the seminar programme – it was the common thread running through almost every discussion.
This year, though, the conversation felt different. The novelty has worn off – in the best possible way. The focus has shifted from excitement about what AI can do, to something more considered; people are thinking about how to apply it deliberately, and where it actually makes a difference.
That doesn’t mean the hard questions have gone away. Governance, data privacy and hallucinations all came up across the seminar programme, and rightly so. The capability is impressive, but the caution is still warranted.
What emerged from those conversations was a clearer sense of where AI fits – and where it doesn’t. The consensus: keep humans in the loop. Start with the brief and shape the thinking – then let AI speed up the middle part. When it’s done its bit, the judgement and critical thinking still need to be yours. Think of it like a sat nav; it’ll get you there faster, but you still need to know how to drive.
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2. Metrics that matter
Tighter budgets, time-poor learners, increasing demands and growing scrutiny from stakeholders – L&D teams are being pulled in every direction. The pressure to demonstrate our value has never been greater.
The problem is that the metrics most of us default to – completion rates, we’re looking at you – only tell part of the story. They tell you people showed up. They don’t tell you whether anything changed. That’s not a reason to dismiss them entirely, but to show L&D’s true value, we need to go deeper.
Metrics were one of the most talked-about themes at LT this year – and one that our own Matthew Kesby, Instructional Design Manager, and Kevin Gale, Head of Learning Experience, tackled in their seminar L&D as mission-critical: The end and start of everything. The question at the heart of it: are we measuring what really matters? For example, did the sales enablement programme lead to better client conversations? Were compliance mistakes being repeated less often? Is the learning really moving the needle, or just filling a dashboard?
The answer is better signals, not more of them. Metrics that are tied directly to outcomes and used to inform decisions. That means designing measurement in from the start, not scrambling to prove impact after the fact.
The message was pointed but fair: if nothing improved, the learning didn’t work – even if people enjoyed it.
3. The role of L&D is changing – again
Measuring better is one thing. Being seen differently is another.
For too long, L&D has been treated as a support function – brought in after decisions have been made, handed a brief and asked to deliver. But expectations are changing, and L&D needs to become its own biggest champion. That requires a different kind of confidence, and a different kind of positioning.
As OL’s Director of Learning, Leena Randhawa, put it in her session, Proving the value of L&D: From insights to impact, this is the most urgent challenge the profession is facing right now. And the language we use is part of the problem. There’s a world of difference between saying “I run our onboarding programme” and “I accelerate how quickly new hires get up to speed so they start contributing sooner.” Same job. Completely different impression – and completely different standing in the business.
To prove the point, Leena asked the room across two sessions how many people would consider themselves advanced at measuring their impact. One person raised their hand. Just one.
It all connects; better measurement and better positioning go hand in hand. L&D needs to move the focus from activity to impact, from delivery to performance, from support function to strategic partner. We need to be in the room when business goals are being set, shaping what happens rather than responding to what’s already been decided. That takes curiosity, commercial acumen and the confidence to show up differently. But it’s where L&D can truly make an impact.
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4. The emotional side of learning
With so much of the conversation centred on AI, the sessions that stepped back from it entirely felt like a breath of fresh air. And a common thread running through some of them was surprisingly simple: emotion is what makes learning stick.
OL’s Matthew and Kevin framed it perfectly in their seminar: think back to school. You likely don’t remember the specifics of the content or the curriculum. You remember the experiences – the teacher who made something click, the moment a challenge felt rewarding, the lesson that stayed with you because it made you feel something. Emotional experience is what creates lasting learning, and in the race to build faster AI-assisted content, it’s easy to lose sight of that.
So, rather than starting with what content to build, start with how you want the learner to feel. Format plays a big role here too: animation, video, gamification and quizzes can all delight your audience and capture attention. In a world where learners are overwhelmed and stretched for time, the emotional quality of an experience is often what determines whether it sticks or gets forgotten within the hour.
A timely reminder that in the age of AI, impact still comes from the human stuff.
5. Skills on paper aren’t enough
We talk about skills a lot in L&D, but how many teams are really putting them to work?
The ambition to become a skills-based organisation is widespread. The harder step is making it functional. Too often, skills live in frameworks rather than in the flow of work – defined at a strategic level but disconnected from what people actually do day to day. The real challenge is closing that gap: making skills meaningful to the role, visible to the learner and tied to real performance.
This is where technology can make a difference. Personalised learning journeys that adapt to individual skill gaps and role requirements join the dots between what the business needs and what the learner experiences. So, rather than handing someone a catalogue, you’re handing them a tailored path. And when learning feels relevant, that’s when engagement follows.
Inspired by Learning Technologies?
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