469: The Strategic Outlook for Learning Businesses 2026

Strategy is about making choices—where to focus, what to invest in, and what to stop doing. Data can help bring clarity to those decisions, especially in a complex and competitive environment.In this episode, Leading Learning Podcast co-hosts Celisa Steele and Jeff Cobb share insights from a survey of learning businesses to help you think about strategy in 2026. They explore top strategic goals and drivers, key trends and challenges shaping learning businesses, and three themes that emerge from the data: the tension between mission and margin, alignment with credibility and areas of authority, and a growing confidence gap around achieving both strategic goals and revenue expectations.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode469.

Mindset shapes how adults approach learning, challenge, and change—and it has important implications for learning businesses. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, number 468, co-hosts Celisa Steele and Jeff Cobb explore Mindset, the influential book by psychologist Carol Dweck, and the broader concept of mindset.They unpack the distinction between fixed and growth mindsets; examine how mindset affects learners, leaders, and organizations; and discuss practical ways learning businesses can foster conditions that support resilience, effort, and meaningful learning.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode468.

Content is everywhere, governance is slow to change, and technology expectations keep climbing—association learning businesses are feeling squeezed. Most are still operating like catalog providers in a market that now needs architects.In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Celisa Steele and Jeff Cobb share a Rumelt-style diagnosis based on conversations with 27 association CEOs. They unpack the issues hollowing out the old education model—and what learning leaders can do to design trustworthy, employer-aligned, tech-enabled learning pathways for the future.If you want clarity on the current landscape and what it means for where your learning business needs to go next, tune in.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode467.

Building or refreshing certification prep, reviewing prices, or expanding into new formats? This conversation offers concrete examples of how to move fast, listen well, and align your portfolio with both mission and margin.Letty Kluttz, senior vice president of membership, education, and programs for the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), talks with Leading Learning Podcast co-host Celisa Steele about launching three certification prep courses in under a year, developing a clear pricing philosophy, and introducing microlearning and microcredentials to meet learners where they are. Letty also discusses how APIC is using data and collaboration to focus on high-demand topics, building a content strategy that works and connecting education outcomes to measurable impact in healthcare settings.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode466.

Unsure about AI guardrails, AI data risks, or which artificial intelligence project to pick first? You’re not alone.Tori Miller Liu, president and CEO of the Association for Intelligent Information Management (AIIM), talks with Leading Learning Podcast co-host Celisa Steele about treating artificial intelligence initiatives as data initiatives, picking one to three practical use cases that augment people (without replacing them), writing a lightweight AI usage policy that’s easily understandable and updatable, and balancing mission and margin with a simple product profitability lens. They also touch on how AIIM’s portfolio supports information leaders who are turning messy, unstructured content into fuel for generative AI—and improved performance.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode465.

Artificial intelligence often magnifies what’s already happening in an organization. If your metadata is a mess, an AI recommendation engine might help you give prospective customers recommendations faster, but those recommendations aren’t likely to be effective.In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Celisa Steele and Jeff Cobb place AI in the Learning Business Maturity Model to help you pick the next move for where your learning business is. While AI can’t fix an immature learning business, used thoughtfully, AI can help a learning business on its path to greater maturity.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode464.

Do you want your learning business to be more than a provider of programs, to truly operate as a learning-centric organization? This episode of the Leading Learning Podcast offers a real-world example of how to do just that.Mike Moss, president of the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), joins co-host Jeff Cobb to talk about how SCUP is reshaping itself around learning. They discuss revising bylaws and governance, deconstructing curriculum, experimenting with membership and communities of practice, and investing in staff and volunteer development. Mike also shares how SCUP balances revenue with risk-taking and why giving people permission to play and experiment is key to fostering curiosity and continuous improvement.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode463.

If you’re concerned about how your learning business can keep pace with rapid change—AI, growing risks, shifting learner expectations—this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast can help. Associations, credentialing bodies, and other learning businesses face mounting pressure to do fewer things of greater value, and success requires both courage and careful risk management.Glenn Tecker, chair and co-CEO of Tecker International, joins co-host Jeff Cobb to talk about the forces reshaping continuing education and credentialing. They discuss how adaptive learning platforms are blurring the lines between education and assessment, why it’s essential to shift from an education mindset focused on information delivery to a learning mindset focused on application, the governance structures and culture of inquiry needed for innovation, the role of boards and staff in managing experimentation, and what it looks like to anticipate future competencies rather than react to the past.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode462.

If you’re wondering what role artificial intelligence should play in your learning business—or how to prepare your people and processes to use it effectively—this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast is for you. Many learning businesses are just beginning to grapple with AI’s implications, and the gap between the potential and the current reality is big.Amith Nagarajan, chairman of Blue Cypress and founder of Sidecar, joins co-host Jeff Cobb to talk about how learning businesses can build the capacity they need to thrive in an AI-driven future. They discuss patterns from past waves of technological change, where associations stand today with AI adoption, and the risks of standing still. Amith also shares practical steps for leaders to get hands-on with AI, the importance of reducing friction, and how AI tools are reshaping knowledge, insights, and personalization.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode461.

Associations have long played a role in supporting learning and education, but they may be overlooking the full extent of their potential. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele explore why associations are education’s sleeping giant and how they can awaken to the opportunity before them.They discuss the distinction between learning and education, examine what’s often holding associations back, offer concrete ideas for moving forward, and highlight the wide-ranging impact that embracing associations’ role as major providers of learning and education can have on members, learners, employers, and society at large.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode460.