I wrote 156,000 words across 52 editions to 5,000 people in my newsletter across 2025.
These thoughts might not be the most popular according to my stats, but they’re the ones I believe are the most meaningful and that I enjoyed writing.
Ready?
Here we go…
1/ The Anatomy of A Modern L&D Team
Now, I update this article every year.
I call it an article but its more like a playbook for the modern L&D leader. I’ve been publishing a new edition of this every year to help leaders craft a team, skills and tech stack to navigate today’s world.
In 2025, it had its biggest update.
And yes, AI had a lot to do with that, yet it goes beyond technology.
In the almost unstoppable AI takeover this year one thing became clear to me, the human element is more crucial than ever.
2/ Everything L&D Teams Need To Know About AI Agents
2025 was supposed to be the year of AI agents – but was it?
I’m not so sure.
This time last year, every tech and AI CEO preached that 2025 would be the year AI agents hit the big time. While I’m not convinced the hype delivered, I do believe these will become important parts of the work ecosystem in the years ahead.
Yet, something that grinds my gears is when a lot of social media gurus try to confuse and deceive the every day human on what exactly AI agents are.
So, that led to me creating this mini-guide for L&D to understand AI agents with out the BS, and explore how they can impact and amplify work as we know it.
3/ The Dangers Of Accepting What You See Online
This isn’t exclusively an L&D thing, yet I really wanted to say something about the state of what I see (and I’m sure you do) online.
The tipping point for me came when I saw one too many so called ‘L&D influencers’ continually spread misinformation through clickbaity headlines about research they didn’t actually read.
There’s a reason you should read beyond the headline.
And with the 2025 word of the year being claimed by “Rage bait”, I believe we need to look deeper into what we see, hear and read in online spaces.
If you want to discover why being a Skeptical hippo could improve your mind, ability to learn and your emotions, then this one is for you, dear reader.
4/ How AI Is Redefining the Way We Assess Learning
Ok, I’m big on the future of learning not focusing on recall with stupid end of course tests and quizzes, but shifting to human reasoning.
The catalyst for this? Yes, you guessed it…AI.
In this one, I propose that now is the time to ditch the memory games in place of true activities that nurture human intelligence through the use of modern tech solutions.
If you fancy shaking things up in 2026, the come join me in this one.
5/ Why Skill Erosion is a Real Problem That No one Can Ignore
I kinda think of this post as a sequel to my analysis on “The Hidden Impact of AI on Your Skills”.
Somehow, it’s been a year since I hit publish on that one.
The message of that piece was to think deeply about the over-reliance we will easily slip into with AI, and how easy it will be to convince ourselves we’re learning how to do something, when in reality, AI is doing it for us.
A year later, I only see more activity, which has amplified both.
That’s not to say there are not those who are rejecting total delegation to AI and those finding the balance between artificial and human intelligence.
As society obsesses over what it gains from AI, perhaps we should be asking what we lose, too.
6/ How To Stop AI From Hijacking Your Thinking
Let’s be honest, we’re all using AI in our day to day in someway, and that’s a good thing.
It’s an incredible piece of technology in the right hands, of course.
But as more of the online world becomes AI-ified, you must ask: Are you thinking with AI, or is AI shaping your thinking?
In this kinda mind-bending article, we explore what happens to human thinking when so many outsource it to an artificial construct.
7/ Where L&D Adds Real Value In The AI Noise
Let’s end it on a positive one, shall we?
I love learning, and I’ve loved my L&D career. We add so much value in many situations and that’s what keeps me writing more words every week.
While AI is changing the world, I don’t see it replacing human learning and those who work in organisations working to amplify that. It will look different but it won’t die (fyi, human learning will never die).
There’s been a ton of talk about AI adoption the last two years
It’s odd because the validation of “adoption” has many definitions dependent on the context and environment. The common pitfall is to measure adoption as ‘use of AI tools’ alone.
As we know with previous technology, usage alone doesn’t mean meaningful adoption.
Setting what adoption looks like in your organisation is not a task for the L&D team.
Yet, we have an opportunity to contribute to long term and meaningful adoption of AI across workforces as part of a wide collaboration in a community.
Lets talk about that.
Final thoughts
Choosing your best work is always hard, and I’m sure if you asked me to pick again a week from now, I might have a different combination
But for now, this is it.
Hopefully, I can keep talking about these topics in more detail with you across the next year, both here and in the weekly Steal These Thoughts newsletter.
Before you go… 👋
If you like my writing and think “Hey, I’d like to hear more of what this guy has to say” then you’re in luck.
You can join me every Tuesday morning for more tools, templates and insights for the modern L&D pro in my weekly newsletter.
