AI transformation is redesigning jobs and rewriting workflows across large organizations. Most of the time, learning leaders aren’t in the room when those decisions get made. By the time L&D is called in, the plans are set — and the upskilling need is already baked.
Yulia Barnakova, AI Innovation and Learning Advisor at Accenture, joins Sam Herring to make a direct case: learning leaders need to get upstream of AI transformation, not wait to be invited downstream. And she offers practical guidance on what that looks like — from navigating fast-moving technology decisions to building team readiness even when organizational tool access is blocked.
In this conversation, Yulia shares:
- Why learning is the engine of workforce reinvention — and why that title requires showing up before the redesign happens
- The pitch learning leaders can make to business and technology leaders to earn a seat at the workflow redesign table
- A practical spectrum for AI-based practice design: matching modality (text, voice, avatar) to the performance environment
- How to pilot AI learning tools without getting locked into long-term contracts you’ll regret
- Why personal upskilling — even outside organizational tool access — is a team-level readiness strategy
Guest: Yulia Barnakova, AI Innovation and Learning Advisor, Accenture
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