Designing the Future of Work: Why L&D Must Move Upstream

What if Learning and Development stopped waiting for business leaders to define the future—and started helping design it? In this episode of Voices of The Learning Network, host Bill Banham sits down with Barry Winkless, Head of the Future of Work Institute and author of Future Work World, to explore how learning leaders can play a far more strategic role in shaping organizational success. Barry argues that too many L&D teams operate downstream, responding to requests after strategic decisions have already been made. The most influential learning functions, however, move upstream. They help define the capabilities, behaviors, and experiences that transform business strategy from aspiration into action. Using the example of becoming a more customer-centric organization, Barry explains how learning professionals can partner with business leaders to identify the specific skills, mindsets, and behaviors required for success—and build measurable pathways to achieve them. The conversation also dives into the evolving role of AI in workplace learning. Beyond automation and efficiency gains, Barry sees enormous potential for AI-powered augmentation, immersive learning experiences, personalized development journeys, and richer feedback loops. As learning becomes more accessible and scalable, the discussion turns to an important question: what uniquely human value will learning professionals bring in the future? Bill and Barry explore topics including emotional performance indicators, transformation-focused measurement, future-ready leadership mindsets, and practical strategies for scaling successful pilots into organization-wide initiatives. Whether you're leading learning strategy, designing workforce capabilities, or preparing your organization for the future of work, this episode offers practical ideas and fresh perspectives for increasing L&D's strategic influence. In this episode: • Why L&D should move upstream into strategic business conversations • Turning business strategy into measurable skills, behaviors, and capabilities • Using customer-centricity as a framework for capability design • Balancing skills taxonomies with transformation-focused outcomes • How AI is reshaping learning design and learner experiences • The role of augmentation, automation, and immersive learning • Why experience design may become one of L&D's most important capabilities • Moving beyond traditional KPIs toward emotional performance indicators • Building future-ready mindsets and organizational adaptability • Scaling successful pilots into impactful "hero projects" • Creating excitement and momentum around organizational transformation About Barry Winkless Barry Winkless is Head of the Future of Work Institute and author of Future Work World. He advises organizations on workforce transformation, future skills, learning strategy, leadership development, and the evolving relationship between technology, work, and human capability. Voices of the Learning Network is the Learning Network podcast connecting the learning and development community. https://thelearning-network.org/