Episodes

This is a special episode reflecting on my experience at AccelerateOTT and Ottawa Conversations with Sonya Shorey (Invest Ottawa), Aydin Mirzaee (Fellow.ai), Ashley Faus (Atlassian), and Sarah Sedgman (LearnExperts) Innovation Week, a city-wide celebration of innovation featuring events across technology, healthcare, defence, the arts, entrepreneurship, and much more. At the center of the week is AccelerateOTT, Ottawa's flagship entrepreneurship conference. This year's theme, Built for the Age o...

My guest in this episode is Andrew Jacobs, founder of the first-ever Podcast Learning Festival, which took place in London this February. The event brought together podcasters, learning professionals, and people interested in how podcasts can support learning. Andrew is the founder of Llarn and an award-winning learning professional, speaker, writer, and podcaster. Over the past two decades, he has helped organizations rethink how people learn. His work has been recognized across the industry, i...

This episode is all about creativity, which is not just about making art, it’s about how we think, adapt, connect, and imagine new possibilities. It is essential for solving the problems that improve our lives and make the world better. I’m joined by Firdaus Kharas, award-winning filmmaker and humanitarian storyteller. His work has reached audiences around the world. As Chairman and Executive Producer of Chocolate Moose Media Inc., he has produced internationally recognized social impact campaig...

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. David Guralnick, Founder & Chair of the Learning Ideas Conference, to explore what’s really happening at the intersection of AI, creativity, and learning. Building on key themes from the Learning Ideas Conference, both the February event and the upcoming June conference focused on AI. We move beyond the hype to explore how AI is actually being used in learning and workplace contexts. This is a reflective and honest conversation about the opportunities AI crea...

The Learning and Development (L&D) Global Sentiment Survey takes the pulse of where workplace learning is headed this year. With thousands of L&D professionals from around the world answering the key question, “What will be hot in workplace L&D in 2026?”, this survey, now in its 13th year, has provided a unique overview of what is happening in workplace learning. In this episode, we dive into one of the most important conversations happening right now in learning and development, how the field i...

This episode brings you a special overview of the IEEE EDUCON 2025, held in London. EDUCON is one of the leading global conferences focused on engineering education, bringing together educators, researchers, and industry leaders to explore how teaching and learning are evolving in an increasingly complex and digital world. I had the pleasure of attending EDUCON 2025 in London and serving as Chair of the Keynote Committee. It was a fantastic experience, and I would like to once again extend my si...

Artificial intelligence is advancing at an extraordinary pace, and education is being reshaped whether we are ready for it or not. In this episode, we discuss a new and fascinating book on this topic — Artificial Intelligence in Education: The Intersection of Technology and Pedagogy. The contributors are experts from around the world who are both educators and technically proficient. I’m joined by the editors of the book, who are leading experts in the field of learning technologies. Dr. Peter I...

This special episode comes directly from an inspiring day at the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) in Toronto, where the global launch of the Smart Start program was celebrated through a landmark symposium titled Music and the Mind: A Smart Start to Early Childhood Education. The event focused on the transformative role of music in early childhood learning and development. Educators, researchers, policymakers, and arts advocates gathered in Koerner Hall in Toronto to explore how music influences...

For the past decade, The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada, has partnered with leading neuroscientists to develop an early childhood education program that uses music to strengthen the cognitive foundations of lifelong learning. Designed for children from six months to four years old, this innovative approach nurtures essential learning skills through the power of music and integrates technology to prepare future-ready minds. On October 31, 2025, The Royal Conservatory of Music will...

There are significant challenges in education that have been ignored for too long, and AI is forcing us to confront them urgently; otherwise, AI will think for us, rather than with us. The need to learn how to learn has been increasingly important, but it has rarely been fully integrated into the education system. My guest in this episode is a doctoral student researching how to teach critical thinking with the aid of AI. She is sounding the alarm on the importance of teaching this skill with AI...

This is very special episode of the podcast — one that’s quite personal and rooted in a story that spans generations. Earlier this summer, I had the privilege of visiting Anghel Saligny Technical High School (Liceului Tehnologic Anghel Saligny) in Baia Mare, Romania — a school that holds profound meaning for my family. I was there to take part in my mother’s 50th high school reunion, a beautiful moment of reflection and reconnection. But my family’s connection to this school goes far beyond that...

This is a special episode in which I’m reflecting on a unique experience that I undertook: visiting 9 Ottawa museums in just 3 days to explore how each one creates meaningful, accessible, and inspiring learning experiences. This whirlwind tour includes 7 of Canada’s national museums: Canada Agriculture and Food Museum - https://ingeniumcanada.org/cafm Canada Aviation and Space Museum - https://ingeniumcanada.org/casm Canadian Museum of History - https://www.historymuseum.ca Canadian Museum of Na...

Entrepreneurial skills aren’t just for entrepreneurs, they are essential to everyone. In times of turbulence and unpredictability, having an entrepreneurial mindset and skills is critical. In this episode, I speak with the research lead of the Future Skills Centre, and we explore what it means to approach work and life with an entrepreneurial mindset, as well as the skills necessary for the future of work. Dr. Wendy Cukier is a professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Ted Rogers Schoo...

This is a special episode featuring highlights from the inaugural Ottawa Innovation Week, with seven insightful interviews from some of the most inspiring leaders in technology and innovation, many of whom were speakers and organizers during the week’s events. Ottawa Innovation Week is a celebration of bold ideas, creative minds, and the changemakers driving the future of technology, business, arts, entertainment, and social impact—right here in Canada’s capital. The initiative was led by Sonya ...

Something exciting is happening in my hometown of Ottawa, and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you on the podcast. Next week, from June 9th to the 13th, will be the inaugural Ottawa Innovation Week, a celebration of bold ideas, creative minds, and the game-changers who are driving the future of technology, business, arts, entertainment, and social impact right here in Canada's capital. My guest on this episode is Sonya Shorey, President and CEO, Invest Ottawa, Bayview Yards, and Area X.O, ...

This is a special episode that features seven mini-interviews with speakers at last year’s Learning Ideas Conference, which was held at Columbia University in New York City. As we approach the Learning Ideas Conference 2025, taking place from June 11th to 13th, I reflect on last year’s conference and the conversations I had with some of the speakers, including the three keynote speakers. Learning Ideas Conference: https://www.learningideasconf.org The interviews can be found at the following tim...

Changing careers or building a business can be daunting, and it requires learning many new skills and being creative. In this episode, my guest is one of my former professors from the Harvard Graduate School of Education who has inspired me in the work that I do now as a workplace learning consultant. We discuss how she built a successful learning evaluation business, became a Harvard professor, and now established herself as a successful children’s book author. Dr Ilona Holland shares how limit...

As new technologies like AI, are disrupting the way we work, there is an increasing need for effective ways to integrate these innovations into workflows. Learning to use new technologies effectively is a primary focus of learning teams around the world. But how can we quickly and proactively adapt to new technologies? McKinsey & Company’s Research & Innovation Learning Lab values developing capabilities that enable teams to stay current with their ever-changing landscape of emerging tech and le...

The author of a fantastic book - The Learning and Development Handbook: A learning practitioner’s toolkit – is the guest in this episode. I enjoyed reading her book and found it to be a great resource for all L&D professionals. In this episode, we discuss the importance of updating approaches to learning in the workplace and some of the key insights and strategies from her book. Michelle Parry-Slater is an award-winning L&OD professional with more than 20 years of experience in the industry. She...

Podcasts can be a great way of learning but are rarely used in workplace training. In this episode, my guest is the co-founder of Assemble You, a company that develops podcasts for workplace training. We discuss strategies to design podcasts that help people retain new knowledge and about his experience as a learning tech entrepreneur. Adam Lacey is the Co-Founder of Assemble You and host of the L&D Challenges podcasts. He has 10+ years of experience creating and selling digital learning. In 202...

Having a quality management system in L&D can help ensure that the final learning experience is of high quality. In this episode, the author of the new book, Quality Management in Learning and Development, discusses her book and shares tips on how to embed a quality management system in the L&D process. Hadiya Nuriddin is an award-winning talent development professional with over two decades of experience in learning strategy, instructional design, elearning development, and facilitation. With D...

Coaching can be a powerful tool to transfer learning to improving on-the-job performance. However, it is often challenging to scale coaching to an entire organization, unless we use technology. I enjoyed testing out a new chatbot coaching tool called Coach M, which was developed by Lever - Transfer Learning. In this episode, I speak with the CEO of Lever about what it looks like to have a chatbot coach and the impact it can have on learning in the workplace. Emma Weber is CEO/Founder Lever – Tra...

Leading a great school requires many diverse skills that enable both the students and adults in the school to thrive. In September 2023 I had the honour of attending the Tatler School Awards in London UK, hosted by Tori Cadogan, the Education Editor at Tatler (interview in episode #35). Tatler Schools Guide is a magazine dedicated to shining a light on the top K-12 schools in the UK and is owned by Conde Nast. This was an exceptional occasion as Tatler Schools Guide was celebrating its 20th anni...

The University of Oxford is made up of over 30 colleges and halls spread across the city centre and beyond. These colleges are at the heart of Oxford's reputation as one of the best universities in the world and make it a very special place to study and live. With the oldest colleges being over 700 years old, it is a rare occurrence for a new college to be established. In 2019, Reuben Colleges was established as the newest college at Oxford University. It is a graduate college dedicated to foste...