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Inside Learning | Unlocking human potential

Inside Learning | Unlocking human potential

Written by: The Learnovate Centre Trinity College Dublin
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How do we reach our potential in work and life? The Inside Learning podcast explores the science of learning and the future of work with expert guest speakers and research-based insights from The Learnovate Centre in Trinity College Dublin, a global research centre focused on learning technology. Hosted by author and consultant Aidan McCullen.

Get in touch: info@learnovatecentre.org / https://www.learnovatecentre.org

Copyright 2026 All rights reserved. Economics
Episodes
  • Fiona Passantino — Why HR Must Lead AI Integration: AI Literacy, Training & the Human-Led Roadmap

    Fiona Passantino — Why HR Must Lead AI Integration: AI Literacy, Training & the Human-Led Roadmap
    Jun 30 2026
    I isn't a tool. It's a new kind of employee. And that's exactly why it belongs to HR, not IT. Aidan welcomes Fiona Passantino, award-winning author of comic books for executives on AI and her new book AI-Powered Leader, to discuss why AI integration should be a human-led experience owned by HR rather than delegated to IT. Fiona argues AI is more like a new kind of employee than a classic tool, and failed adoption often comes from lack of training, governance, and leadership support rather than "resistance." She outlines HR's role in measuring an organisation's adoption curve, delivering baseline AI literacy (including EU AI Act requirements), supporting early adopters as a coaching centre of excellence, and bringing analog "hell no" employees over the line without creating a split organisation. The conversation covers phased L&D approaches by department and for desk-less workers, using AI earlier in workflows for bigger impact, and her five-step roadmap from "ostrich" to "eagle," emphasising joyful learning through comics and humour. In this conversation, Fiona reveals: Why AI behaves more like a new employee than a tool — and what that changes about who owns itThe "kidneys of the organisation" metaphor for what HR actually does all dayWhy most AI roll-outs stall as "resistance" — and why that's a leadership failure, not a people problemHow the EU AI Act already makes AI literacy and governance a legal requirementThe two groups worth extra training: the 1% enthusiasts and the "hell no" analog holdoutsWhy you must never let your company split into "AI people" and "analog people"The five-stage bird roadmap — ostrich, sandpiper, pelican, sparrowhawk, eagleWhy most teams use barely 10% of a tool like CopilotThe "desk-less" training built for the 80% of workers who never log into a desktopWhy the comics in her book are a deliberate strategy: "if you're laughing, you can't resist" Chapters: 00:00 Podcast Intro 00:15 Meet Fiona Passantino 01:03 Why HR Owns AI 04:16 Leadership And Change 07:05 AI Literacy And Governance 09:04 Early Adopters And Resistors 11:58 L&D Training Phases 16:58 Beyond Tools Mindset 19:36 Roadmap Ostrich To Eagle 21:50 Comics And Joyful AI 24:18 Where To Find Fiona 25:18 Closing Credits Find Fiona: Book — AI-Powered Leader (available wherever books are sold) https://fionapassantino.com https://www.working-humans.com https://aihumanschool.com About Inside Learning Inside Learning dives into learning science and the future of work, featuring learning experts from around the world each month. Topics span AI, neurodiversity, creativity, unlearning, leadership, ethics, VR, blended learning, performance, and skills. The podcast is designed to make you think, question and learn. Hosted by author, consultant and coach Aidan McCullen, Inside Learning is produced by Learnovate, the future-of-work and learning research centre based at Trinity College Dublin and funded by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland. Subscribe to Inside Learning wherever you listen. 🌐 https://learnovatecentre.org 🎙️ https://learnovatecentre.org/insights/podcasts/ 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/learnovate-centre
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    26 mins
  • Rahim Hirji — Super Skills: The 7 Human Skills for the Age of AI

    Rahim Hirji — Super Skills: The 7 Human Skills for the Age of AI
    May 29 2026
    "Decision-making is what you do with information. Judgment is what you do with your values when the information runs out." Rahim Hirji has spent 20 years inside learning technology — at HarperCollins, running one of the UK's first online tutoring businesses, co-founding EtonX out of Eton College, and leading Quizlet's growth across 60 countries. His new book, Super Skills: The Seven Human Skills for the Age of AI (Kogan Page, out 3 July 2026), was the most requested title at this year's London Book Fair and is endorsed by Harvard's Karim Lakhani. Most AI books start with the technology. This one starts with a boat. In this conversation, Rahim reveals: Why most people are "sleepwalking" into an AI-shaped life without realising itThe boat that carried his family from India to East Africa — and why it frames the whole age of AIHow five generations of skills stack up: survival, street, specialist, soft, and now superThe difference between algorithmic drift and intentional design — and which one you're living inWhy a manager started receiving 12-page AI documents nobody had actually read"Human at the start" (HATS) — the centaur/Iron Man approach that beats "human in the loop"The one super skill Rahim believes AI will never haveWhy losing busy work is good news, not a threat The seven super skills: curiosity, change readiness, big picture thinking, principled innovation, empathy, global adaptability, and the augmented mindset. Chapters: 00:00 Podcast Intro and Guest 01:16 Boat Story and Skills Ladder 04:27 AI Change Hope and Risks 07:53 Drift Versus Design 11:02 Augmented Mindset HATS 13:59 Judgment When Data Ends 15:27 Seven Super Skills Overview 17:54 Who the Book Is For 22:09 Website Extras and Wrap Up 23:08 Closing Credits About the guest: Rahim Hirji is an edtech leader and author. His book Super Skills: The Seven Human Skills for the Age of AI (Kogan Page) publishes on 3 July 2026. Find the diagnostic, bonus chapters and extras at https://superskillsbook.com. About Inside Learning: Inside Learning dives into learning science and the future of work, featuring learning experts from around the world each month — covering AI, neurodiversity, creativity, unlearning, leadership, ethics, VR, blended learning, performance, skills and more. Designed to make you think, question and learn. Produced by Learnovate, the future-of-work and learning research centre at Trinity College Dublin, funded by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland. About the host: Aidan McCullen is the 2025 Thinkers50 Innovation Award recipient, a keynote speaker on AI, disruption, innovation and change, host of The Innovation Show, and author of Undisruptable: A Mindset of Permanent Reinvention (Wiley). Learn more about Aidan at https://theinnovationshow.io/about-aidan-mccullen Listen and follow: Website: https://learnovatecentre.org Podcast: https://learnovatecentre.org/insights/podcasts/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/learnovate-centre YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@learnovatecentre
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    23 mins
  • Future Work World with Barry Winkless

    Future Work World with Barry Winkless
    May 1 2026

    In this episode of the Inside Learning Podcast from the Learnovate Centre, Aidan McCullen speaks with Barry Winkless, Chief Strategy Officer at Cpl, Head of the Future of Work Institute, and author of Future Work World: How Leaders Can Create Destinations for Talent that Excite, Entice, and Engage.

    Barry argues that future-of-work conversations must begin with mindset. Before leaders redesign work, talent, teams or technology, they need a new language and a new way of seeing. He introduces three leadership roles from the book: the Destination Designer, the Societal Whisperer, and the Systems Architect.

    The conversation explores the structure of Future Work World, including Barry’s four-part journey through mindset, “meta waves”, the “mixing desk” of 16 areas for work innovation, and the use of immersive storytelling to move people emotionally. Barry also shares how music, science fiction, and fictional near-future stories shaped the book’s distinctive style.

    Aidan and Barry discuss the idea of “work type salads”, where organisations blend permanent employees, contractors, consultants, gig workers, temporary talent, and specialist networks to create strategic advantage. They also explore the concept of organisational “wisdom worlds”, using AI inference, immersive learning, and tacit knowledge capture to build deeper capability over time.

    The episode closes with a reflection on the shift from mono careers to poly careers, where individuals increasingly become the hero of their own working lives and organisations become part of their journey rather than the whole journey.

    Episode Timeline

    00:00 Podcast intro and guest 01:10 Why this book now 01:58 Music and storytelling 04:47 Mindset comes first 11:25 Mixing desk equalizers 14:46 Meta waves and work type salad 18:39 Building a wisdom world 22:37 The new hero journey at work 27:06 Where to find Barry 27:57 Closing credits
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    28 mins
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