Dear Learning Enthusiast,
We’ve officially kicked off! Day 1 at Learning Technologies UK was packed with exciting discussions, innovations, and a clear shift toward performance-driven learning. Here’s a look at some of the biggest takeaways and standout moments from the day.
Exclusive Interviews from the Ground
📣 Angela Reda, Sales Development Manager at Ciphr
Holistic People Management Powered by AI
Angela shared Ciphr’s innovative approach to employee management, focusing on AI’s positive role in workforce development. The focus was clear: AI is not the enemy—it’s a tool for personalising employee experiences, especially in management. Angela also emphasized the importance of in-person networking at events like Learning Technologies to build lasting relationships.
AI can be seen as quite a scary thing, but actually it’s about how it’s used and the benefits that it’s used.
📣 Dawni Jacobs, VP Sales at Dynamic Languages
AI and Sales: Revolutionising Global Communication
Dawni discussed how Dynamic Languages is using AI to bridge communication gaps globally and transform sales strategies. AI's role in overcoming challenges related to cost and accuracy in sales was a central theme, echoing Hive Perform’s focus on AI-driven sales enablement tools.
AI is going to allow sales to overcome a lot of the pain points that organisations are feeling, especially when it comes to cost and accuracy.
Key Sessions and Takeaways from Day 1
🧠 Takeaways from the conference programme ‘Data and analytics’: Aligning Learning to Real Performance Needs
Speakers: Derek Mitchell, People Analytics Lead @ Novo Nordisk
Define the Problem First: Too often, businesses jump into building training programmes without identifying the specific problem. Is it about increasing leads, improving conversions, or overcoming objections?
Metrics Matter: Derek Mitchell highlighted that, “If you don’t know what metric you're trying to change, you’ll never build the right solution.” Without clear metrics, training programmes fail to address real performance gaps.
Link Learning to Business Outcomes: Learning needs to be aligned with business goals. It’s not enough to build training; it must directly impact performance, whether in sales, leadership, or any other area.
How Hive Perform Fits In
Hive Perform ensures that your teams aren’t just going through the motions of training. Their AI-powered, real-time coaching tools give actionable insights at the moment of need, helping sales teams focus on what matters — improving specific metrics like lead conversion and overcoming objections.
🧠 Takeaways from the seminar ‘Human Connections at Work: The Power of Coaching and Mentoring’
Speakers: Leslie Kelley, Chief Growth Officer @ Absorb
Coaching and Mentoring are Essential: Corporate learning often overlooks the powerful role of mentoring and coaching. True learning happens when people learn from people — a critical element that many organisations miss in traditional training.
Traditional Training Misses the Mark: Conventional training programmes often fail to lead to real execution or measurable performance improvements. Coaching bridges this gap.
Integrating Mentoring with Learning Tech: Integrating mentoring and coaching programmes into an organisation's LMS simplifies and enhances these initiatives, making them more scalable and effective, resulting in improved retention and higher employee engagement.
🌟 Hive Perform’s Key Moments Today
Coming up today, Hive Perform is leading two major sessions you won't want to miss— both presented by Hive Perform CEO, Laura Keith:
📌 Training That Works: How a CRO Rethought L&D to Drive Revenue
11:45 AM – 12:15 AM | Seminar Theatre 5
With Tom Sheepshanks, CRO at Fospha
This session explores how Fospha’s shift towards performance-first learning strategies led to a remarkable revenue boost.
📌 Why Skills Alone Aren’t Enough for Business Growth
12:20 PM – 12:35 PM | Bitesize Learning Zone 1
This session will focus on the power of performance enablement and how real-time coaching outperforms traditional training in driving results.
📸 Here’s Hive Perform in Action!
Leah (left) & Izzie (right)
Laura (far right) in action
🎤 Spotlight on Hive Perform’s Best Pitch Competition
Another exciting highlight today is Hive Perform’s Best Pitch Competition. So far, around 20 participants have stepped up to test their pitches, get real-time feedback, and gain visibility on the live leaderboard! Whether you’re in sales or L&D, this competition is a fantastic opportunity to refine your approach and win a free Hive Perform licence for your organisation.
📍 Find it at Hive Perform’s Booth (Stand H60)
Izzie Foster’s Thoughts on Sales Performance
Izzie Foster, Marketing Manager @ Hive Perform
‘The brains behind campaigns that actually get sales teams talking.’
The strategy at events is that your reps need to perform in the moment - they need to be ready to hit the messaging properly - they only have 30 seconds to capture people’s attention.
We spoke with top companies such as Deel, Learning Pool, Rippling and Green House found that even the most confident reps feel the pressure at events to convert leads.
It’s more important than ever to make sure your reps are ready to perform and execute in the moment.
The Hive Perform Best Pitch Competition exemplifies this by ensuring reps are ready to execute in the moment, enabling real-time performance insights.
💬 Reflections from the Ground: Day 1 Takeaways
AI isn’t just the buzzword it was last year – we’re past the hype cycle now. The conversations today have shifted from novelty to necessity, with a focus on finding real, practical applications that drive impact.
One thing that stood out: a lot of people are still talking about training programmes and content libraries. That mindset is starting to feel a bit outdated. The real innovators are moving towards skills development and coaching – but at Hive Perform, we think it needs to go even further.
We believe the future is about execution and performance enablement. It’s not about flooding teams with more content. It’s about getting people exactly what they need, when they need it, to perform better and make their lives easier. That’s where real value lies.
Saul Lew, GTM Lead @ Hive Perform
‘Knows what it takes to take a product to market — and make it stick.’
It’s been an inspiring start to Learning Technologies UK. Day 2 promises even more insights, networking, and sessions you won’t want to miss. Stay tuned for more updates!
The Unofficially Learning Technologies Team
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