Udacity CEO on the Future of Learning and AI
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Advances in technology and shifting employee expectations have forced Human Resources professionals into supporting robust learning and development programs. Generative artificial intelligence (GAI) is causing the need for more training while it is at the same time changing the delivery and look of L&D programs.
Udacity CEO Kai Roemmelt says that 20% of the content that the learning company is offering now is related to artificial intelligence (AI). After all, Udacity is a digital education platform for technical skills (AI, machine learning, and data science), and it has a history of teaching AI dating back to its founding in 2011.
To respond to the increasing demand for learning and development of this kind, Udacity recently announced All Access, a subscription-based experience that offers consumers unlimited, on-demand access to Udacity’s entire catalog of courses, programs, and other content.
Recently, Roemmelt sat down with HR Exchange Network to discuss AI and the future of learning, creating a culture of continuous education, and how to support employees in pursuit of improving themselves. Discover his responses in this Q&A:
Make Learning Easy
HREN: Why is it vital to make learning opportunities more accessible to your workforce now? And how much of a role does advanced technology like generative AI play into it?
KR: What we've seen is that our core product of nanodegree [courses] is incredibly transformative in the way that people learn and has a major input. But at the same time, it's also an intense product, which requires a commitment of about 15 to 20 hours per week, over a period of, on average, four months. So, what we want to do with All Access is empowering, sustained skill development. We want to do two things. One is we want to allow people to be more flexible in what they learn and move between different courses and different subject matter areas as they need to.
READ: 4 Biggest Takeaways from All Access Corporate Learning 2023
Two, we also allow people to much more easily consume more or less content, depending on their unique needs in a specific situation. For example, if you learned about generative AI five years ago, it is very different than if you learned about it last year. So, we want to enable people to complete the full nanodegree and do the deep dive. And then they can continue learning about the subject as it matures and changes, so they can stay current in their knowledge.
Or they can also use it as kind of an on-ramp. And I've recently spoken to one of our learners, who was taking a number of courses to prepare himself for another degree.
HREN: Tell me about some of the skills that you're training people on the most nowadays. What are the gaps in skills that many organizations are trying to fill?
KR: Generally, we see a broad range of topics. Our core topics are AI and also a lot of foundational technologies. And what's interesting is that we see a surge in both.
People are not only looking for courses to apply their knowledge, but also in learning to build new technologies, which we generally think is very good. But we also see interest in data analytics and cloud computing, for example. Those are topics that are still key skills to have in the workplace right now.
Create a Culture of Continuous Learning
HREN: What advice do you have for establishing a culture of continuous learning?
KR: This is a great question, and one that we care a lot about. At the end of the day, the most important thing, is not page impressions or learning hours. The real key to creating that culture of learning is to answer the question of "why" for the employees. Why are you learning something?
Our clients who do this best are those who turn skills and nanodegrees into a currency in the company. For example, new job offers, internal job offers, promotions, or salary increases are connected to acquiring certain skills or nanodegrees. That's when we see graduation rates of 85% and higher. The learners are doing it for a reason.
WATCH: What Does the Generative AI Revolution Mean for Learning?
Giving Employees the Time for Development
HREN: What trends do you think will stick and which ones will be going away? Why?
KR: I think what we have to understand and what HR leaders must understand is that if you provide learners with a learning opportunity, you're not only competing with other learning opportunities. You're also competing with them spending that time on their work, binge watching Netflix, spending time with their kids, etc. That's why that question of why and how it drives career opportunities forward is so critical.
Something that we're seeing, and this is part of why we're launching All Access is that there is a shift toward a sustained commitment to professional development and continuous learning.
Learning becomes a weekly or daily habit, and people stay current because of the speed at which these technologies develop. It is essential. It makes a massive difference.
Another trend worth mentioning is the move to skills and capabilities, which is another reason for All Access. By allowing people to be very focused and conscious about what skills they are learning and, so they can apply what they have learned right away at work.
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