What I continue to notice is a splinter in L&D-focused systems—internal and external, though the external is weaker than the internal.
L&D systems are separating themselves without perhaps even noticing it, because of their approach towards employee growth.
Systems targeting employees are diverging by focus area: office/professional (often L&D-focused), deskless/frontline, and talent development platforms.
You do not see the same splinter in customer training/partner enablement, or even in a system for another non-internal segment.
Systems today that are 50/50 combos, like 40-60 or vice versa, targeting L&D and customer training will face a reckoning. This does not mean people will flee or another situation will arise.
The system—the vendor—will continue to skew one way.
Often, combos lean toward L&D features rather than customer training. Some focus more on customer training and must add functionality.
Others try both, but this is challenging and usually leads to imbalance.
The Change Over
I’ve never cared for the term workforce development because it sounds dated. Whenever someone mentions it, I picture an old-timey factory in the 20s.
Talent Management is another term that worked well, but every TM always added learning, which in a way defeated their purpose or focus.
Plus, this is 2026, not 2015.
Employee Growth is slowly becoming a valuable term, but calling something an Employee Growth system does not seem to work technically.
What does work is identifying your learning system for employee growth because it is that if you are L&D-focused and especially if you are moving toward a Talent Development Platform/System (depending on vendor semantics, but TD is the key type).
Vendors face a dilemma identifying their L&D system type—whether to choose career pathways with optional content beyond job-specific skills or to mix personal and professional development.
Many L&D systems focus only on skills, not holistic growth, though training is broader.
The other option for L&D is a Talent Development Platform (I have said ‘system’ in the past, and it is vernacular here).
My take is you will see far more TDPs than L&D systems, as I noted above.
Now, there is nothing wrong with an L&D-focused versus a TDP, because similarities do exist, along with overlap.
I won’t discuss whether a vendor lets you switch to what you want, because most do, and it has no bearing on this.
Systems Going Talent Development
I saw it just a couple of weeks back, Docebo.
They are a combo system—about 60% of clients are customer training, 40% L&D.
The system has always seemed skewed more toward L&D. There was enough to do well on the customer training side.
What I saw clearly is a system that screams talent development.
While I cannot say certain items (until after their show later in April), the first take I thought was whether they were eyeing the HCM segment, which they made clear they are not.
After seeing everything, it clearly screamed Talent Development Platform to me.
I believe that is what it is and will continue on that path.
Does this mean they will drop customer training?
No, not at all.
However, I believe as more TD pieces are added, they will seek a significant increase over the next year to openly call themselves a TD Platform.
This, and I want to stress this, does not mean you cannot buy a TDP and provide customer training/partner enablement, frontline/deskless, or blue-collar specific.
You can, as you can with any system, regardless of the main target.
On the list for TDPs that I like, surprisingly enough, is Degreed.
Yep, the original LXP, then skills-specific approach, has become a TDP.
I was definitely surprised, because market-wise, they were no longer part of the deep conversation for folks seeking an L&D system alone (which they always have been).
On their own platform, though, they introduced new functionality directly tied to being a TDP.
These features included (and not all are listed here)
- Opportunities – This is a must for a TDP. It covers internal jobs, whether a three-month project or a different role. If a vendor uses “Opportunities,” as the industry does, they are slowly—sometimes unknowingly—becoming TDP because career pathways (another popular phrase) are an added component.
- Skills Coach – Often AI, replacing AI tutors with AI Skills Coaches. You can have this in an L&D-focused system, but the more an AI Skills Coach does around skills, the more the system becomes a TDP.
I’ve seen a Skills Coach who goes a couple of steps based on prompts the person asks, with an output and assessment, or another item, such as a roleplay.
The TDP one goes much further, at least the systems that stand out do. And if you are a vendor and go, “Wow, we are really a TDP, but we need to do this and that,” then you are off and running.
- Existing or new content changes the learning experience based on AI, with an initial pathway that expands beyond existing content. New content, whether taken or completed (not required), opens new learning doors around skills—whether learners are aware of them or not. This is a cool component most ignore.
If you do the above but do not go to TDP, you can still go L&D only. I prefer the unaware approach, where the learning experience changes based on what learners choose rather than being forced to take content tied to skills and roles.
At least for now.
At some point, as the market splinters, an L&D-focused system will likely end up in the TDP bucket, which is not a bad thing.
- Discovery – this goes into the whole skills angle with skills mapping already done ahead of time (a major gripe among anyone who has to do it themselves, let’s say pain point – now eliminated)
- Skills Management – more than usual skill ratings. A TDP offers skills to pick from with descriptions and uses that info to build ratings continuously with AI. Skills capabilities include roleplays, a crucial TDP function.
- Roleplays or scenarios – I have yet to see a truly engaging “real-life scenario” course beyond clicking a retort, though voice input to the “AI Player” improves engagement. Scenarios include multiple variables but haven’t evolved much since Flash days. Roleplays are more common, and a TDP really taps into that.
- Metrics focus on the career pathway and employee growth patterns. To date, I have not seen TD- or L&D-specific elements tying content, skills, roles, pathway direction, or output metrics together. Such data would be highly valuable.
- Leadership Development based solely on the “discover” aspect – unknown skills the person doesn’t realize they have, can take someone from here to there, and eliminates the “we see you as a leader,” subjective approach.
I didn’t include compliance because everyone claims to have “great compliance” features with L&D, and most are just the usual stuff I see.
Strong compliance capabilities leveraging AI across the entire employee growth process change that narrative.
The others on the list for TDP – Even if they do not pronounce it as such in their marketing (these are systems that I like as a TDP.
- Learn Amp – They refer to themselves as employee development.
- Cornerstone Learn with Cornerstone Transform – There are items within CT you will need, not all of them, and yes, I’ve mentioned the extraction of some of those items into Cornerstone Learn.
- Docebo
- Juno Journey
- Degreed
- NovoEd
- Acorn – Although they, for whatever reason, pitch some combo capabilities (external audience, for example)
It isn’t a big list because others pitching as TDPs aren’t leveraging enough.
Many more systems call themselves TDPs, but others are just thinking about it.
The L&D Systems that stand out
Digital Chalk – I still see them as a combo, because they can do well in each segment based on soon-to-be-launched and already-launched features.
- BizLMS – Comes with Skills and BizReady, isn’t there yet, but could become a TDP
- D2L – Another combo, but a strong player for L&D
- Absorb LMS – Combo L&D and Customer Training. Strong on both fronts.
- Cypher Platform – Opportunities push them closer to TDP.
- Learning Pool
- Thrive Learning – L&D with the potential of expanding into customer training. Strong in L&D.
- Gyrus – Compliance-focused system – those types of platforms are L&D specific
- Atana
- Learnster
- LearnUpon – L&D Combo with Customer Training.
Just a short list because many combos are ideal staying combos.
Some systems focus mainly on blue-collar/frontline with customer training combos—I see them and recommend they stay that way. ExpertusOne is one example; there are others.
One item you will see more of is “business outcomes.” I didn’t place it in L&D-specific or TDP because it can and often should be in customer training, partner enablement, blue-collar, or deskless/frontline.
After all, everything revolves around business outcomes.
A quick takeaway here.
Will your prospects and clients know the difference between a TDP and “We want a system for L&D?” Unless they have researched TDP and read this post, it is unlikely.
Do most folks type “Talent Development Platform” into a search engine?
No. Then again, when LMS rolled out, the number of users was minimal. Now though?
Many people say, “We want a system that accepts this content, can do assessments, compliance, and blah blah,” with “blah blah” meaning “Every system.”
I get it, but understanding that a TDP is different and meant to be so is recognizing what is happening in the market.
A TDP is not an HCM.
A TDP is not an ERP LMS -such as SuccessFactors, which can call themselves a TDP and get away with it, nor Workday Learning.
Bottom Line
The L&D market is splintering.
That’s a fact.
Whether your vendor chooses to stay in the L&D without making the changes to go TDP is up to them.
Some vendors will try to be everything to everyone, combining L&D with TDP functionality. The challenge is deciding which functionality will be their priority.
It can’t be both.
One will get more resources.
If your audience is TDP-seeking and debating between you (a combo L&D lacking enough TDP) and a TDP vendor, where do you think they will go?
Employee Growth driven or Combo L&D driven?
Everything to everyone isn’t going to work anymore.
It’s too fragmented.
And on the business outcome perspective
Inefficent.
E-Learning 24/7
This post is in memory of my sweet dear boy, Voodoo, who passed away at 13. He was a big ham, loving pit bull, who protected his siblings and family.
Car rides, jumping into tides at the beach, eating McDonald’s hamburgers were tops in his book.
Along with giving Dad, munchies (kisses) each morning.
We will meet again, my Sweet Prince.
Until then, love you always.
