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

In a world where technology is accelerating faster than ever, how do leaders make the right decisions—without losing sight of what makes us human?

In this episode of Inside Learning, Aidan McCullen is joined by Kate O’Neill, tech humanist, author of What Matters Next, and advisor to organizations like Google, Netflix, and the United Nations.

Kate shares a powerful framework for navigating uncertainty, making smarter decisions, and shaping a better future—while keeping human experience at the center.

You’ll discover:

• Why not making a decision is still a decision
• The critical difference between harms of action vs. inaction
• How to move from questions → insights → “bankable foresight”
• Why the future isn’t singular—but made up of multiple “futures”
• How leaders can align purpose, values, and strategy in a fast-changing world
• The emerging skill of “prompting” as a leadership capability
• Why AI should support human meaning—not replace it

Kate also explores a crucial idea: 👉 We must not leave meaning-making to machines.

This episode is essential listening for leaders, educators, and anyone trying to stay relevant—and human—in the age of AI.

Inside Learning is brought to you by Learnovate, the global experts in the future of work and learning. Based at Trinity College Dublin and funded by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, Learnovate is a research centre with a mission to enhance the competitive advantage of the learning technology industry and help organisations maximise the impact of learning technology.

Learnovate’s vision is to play a significant role in transforming the lives of learners in the workplace, schools, universities, and the home. We are proud to be part of the Technology Centre programme funded by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, enabling Irish companies and multinationals to collaborate on market-focused strategic R&D with research institutions.

To find out more about Learnovate, visit the Learnovate Centre website.

https://learnovatecentre.org/

Find Kate here:

https://www.koinsights.com/

Kathryn Jablokow. Dean of Manhattan University’s School of Engineering, former NSF deputy division director, and co-author of the NSF Artificial Intelligence Roadmap joins Aidan McCullen to explore design cognition: how people think while solving design problems.

They unpack why high-performance teams don’t just match skills to problems, but also match thinking styles to the type of challenge, plus how great facilitators make space for different contributors (including introverts who need time to reflect).

The conversation then turns to AI as a teammate: how to avoid “sycophant” answers, how to prompt AI to generate genuinely different perspectives, and what it could look like to train LLMs to emulate cognitive diversity for better decisions and more creative outcomes.

Find Kathryn's papers:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marybethgasman/2025/12/30/what-ai-cant-replace-and-why-that-matters/

https://www.techradar.com/pro/how-applying-cognitive-diversity-to-llms-could-transform-the-user-experience

In this episode of The Inside Learning Podcast, hosted by the Learnovate Centre, Aidan McCullen speaks with world-renowned AI researcher and Creative Machines author Maya Ackerman about the rise of generative AI and its impact on human creativity.

The conversation explores the hidden history of AI-generated creativity, from early computational creativity pioneers to modern large language models. Maya explains how scientists define creativity — novelty, value, and surprise — and how machines are beginning to operate inside that same creative space.

The episode also examines the capabilities and limitations of generative AI, the ethical challenges of treating AI as an “all-knowing oracle,” and why the future of creativity lies in human-AI collaboration rather than replacement.

Listeners will gain practical insight into how tools like Lyric Studio enhance human expression, how AI reflects human culture and bias, and what leaders must understand as creative AI reshapes work, learning, and society.

In this episode of Inside Learning, brought to you by the Learnovate Centre, host Aidan McCullen is joined by Sean D'Arcy, Chief Solutions Officer at Kahoot!—Europe’s largest EdTech platform.

They explore the post-pandemic challenges in education, including dwindling student attention and motivation, and how tools like Kahoot! are helping teachers reimagine engagement through gamification, interactivity, and now AI.

Sean shares how Kahoot! supports both K-12 and higher education through AI-powered quiz creation, student-led learning, and real-time feedback. The conversation also dives into the role of AI in personalized education, how workplace learning is evolving with Gen Z, and how organizations can rebuild culture and performance post-layoffs.

Key Takeaways:

• How AI is enhancing teacher productivity and learner engagement

• Shifts in learner psychology and classroom expectations

• Practical strategies for using Kahoot in classrooms and corporate training

• Insights into upskilling, microlearning, and future-ready skills

• The role of gamified learning in improving retention and morale post-layoffs

Perfect for educators, L&D professionals, and anyone passionate about the future of learning.

Find the articles mentioned here:

https://kahoot.com/blog/2025/10/06/training-after-layoffs-3-strategies-to-rebuild-engagement-and-performance/

🔗 Links Mentioned in This Episode

• Learnovate Centre: https://www.learnovatecentre.org

• Do More in Four (Book Website): https://www.domoreinfour.com

• Joe O’Connor – Work Time Revolution: https://www.worktimerevolution.com

• Jared Lindzon (Official Website): https://www.jaredlindzon.com

Inside Learning is brought to you by the Learnovate Centre at Trinity College Dublin, funded by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland. Learnovate’s research explores the science of learning and the future of work.

Welcome to another episode of The Inside Learning Podcast brought to you by the Learnovate Centre, where we explore the impact of AI on the future of work. In this episode, we are joined by Sangeet Paul Choudary, the author of 'Reshuffle,' to debunk common fallacies about AI, such as 'AI won't take your job, but somebody using AI will.'

Sangeet dives deep into understanding how AI restructuring workflows, altering organizational logic, and redistributing power. Using real-life examples from various industries, he explains how we should refocus from task-level to system-level thinking to truly understand the changes AI brings. Sangeet discusses the importance of skills like curiosity and curation and provides actionable insights on how to stay valuable in an AI-driven world. Tune in to learn more about the fallacies of automation and augmentation, productivity gains, and the new value industry coordination layers bring.

00:00 Introduction to the Inside Learning Podcast

00:15 Debunking the AI Job Replacement Myth

01:02 Understanding the Systemic Impact of AI

02:06 Introducing the Guest: Sangeet Paul Choudary

02:23 Unpacking the AI Job Replacement Fallacy

02:53 The Automation vs. Augmentation Debate

04:25 The Typist Example: A Case Study

06:42 Skills for the Future: Curiosity and Curation

10:58 The Productivity Gains Fallacy

11:13 Coordination vs. Creation: Capturing Value

15:54 The Workflow Continuity Fallacy

17:18 The Neutral Tools Fallacy

21:30 The Stable Salary Fallacy

24:16 The Stable Firm Fallacy

25:22 Practical Takeaways for the Future of Work

29:49 Conclusion and Resources

Find Sangeet on Substack:

https://open.substack.com/pub/platforms/p/the-many-fallacies-of-ai-wont-take?r=jzz68&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

Find Reshuffle:

https://amzn.to/46NGtvv

Productive Failure: A New Paradigm for Learning with Manu Kapur

What if the best way to learn isn’t to get it right the first time—but to fail first?

In this episode of Inside Learning, we’re joined by Manu Kapur, author of Productive Failure. Kapur introduces a radical shift in how we think about education and training: instead of shielding learners from mistakes, we should intentionally design for failure as the gateway to deep understanding.

We explore:

1. Why traditional Direct Instructionoften fails even when delivered by excellent teachers.
2. How novices “can’t see what they don’t yet know” — and why the first job of teaching is to prepare them to see with an expert’s eyes.
3. The science behind Productive Failure — from Activationto Awareness, Affect, and Assembly.
4. Evidence showing that Productive Failure can produce learning gains three times greaterthan conventional methods.
5. Practical ways educators, trainers, and leaders can create safe, curated failure experiences that build resilience, creativity, and deeper transfer of knowledge.

As Kapur puts it: “Fail first, learn later.”

Join us for a conversation that challenges the way we teach, train, and even think about learning itself.

Find out more here: https://www.productivefailure.com