A space for training trailblazers to get real.
If you’re looking for practical L&D solutions, tune into any of our NovoEDTalks 20-minute podcast episodes where L&D professionals share their expert insights and strategies
The Human Advantage: Why Human Skills Matter More in the Age of AI
On this episode of NovoEDTalks, Melissa sits down with Irina Cavescu, Head of Portfolio at Learnlight, to explore why human skills are becoming more valuable, not less, as AI reshapes how we work. Irina shares how constant change, remote work, generational differences, and increasingly global teams are requiring people to learn, unlearn, and adapt in real time, while making skills like self-awareness, emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence, and psychological safety essential to performance. The conversation also explores why AI is pushing us to double down on what makes us uniquely human and why the organizations that thrive will treat human capability development as a core business driver, not a checkbox exercise.
3 Sept 2026
Design for the Real World: Making Learning More Relevant, Human, and Useful
On this episode of NovoEDTalks, Melissa sits down with James Lavis, Manager of Training and Development at Kubota Canada, to explore why learning teams need to move beyond course completion and focus on the behaviors and business outcomes they are actually trying to create. James shares why L&D belongs at the beginning of major business initiatives, how just-in-time resources and experiential assessment can better reflect the way people actually learn and work, and why sometimes the best way forward is to get back to the fundamentals of instructional design. They also discuss how AI can become a powerful sidekick for small learning teams, helping them increase capacity and work faster without replacing the human judgment and expertise that make great learning possible.
1 Sept 2026
Learning Where the Work Happens: Turning Development Into Application
On this episode of NovoEDTalks, Melissa sits down with Sarah Maday, Senior Learning and Development Manager at a global automotive supplier, to explore how organizations can make development part of the work people are already doing. Sarah shares how her team is moving away from treating every development need as a class or eLearning, instead using real projects, coaching, peer conversations, cohorts, and bite-sized learning to help employees apply new skills in the moment. The conversation also explores AI as a learning partner, the importance of curiosity and validation, and why L&D leaders need to focus less on delivering more content and more on helping people continuously learn, adapt, and grow.
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