I was looking at the results of the top 100 tools survey which Jane Hart produced last week. Shared widely, the analysis I’ve seen sems to suggest it’s a bit of a ‘dull’ year because there hasn’t been much movement. A few ups and downs but a pretty steady top 10.

A few thoughts:

• Stability ≠ Security
  The Top 10 looks stable, but that’s a warning sign for L&D. If YouTube is the default for a decade, are we just optimising old habits instead of reshaping learning for work today?
• AI as an Interface, Not a Tool
  ChatGPT and Gemini aren’t just “tools” like PowerPoint. They’re a new way people interact with information dressed up as knowledge. If we still treat them as “add-ons,” we miss their role as a gateway layer between people and work.
• Personalisation Beats Provision
  The list shows tools people can pick for themselves, not waiting for an LMS. A shift from “creation” to “curation” to “brokered ecosystems” is going to happen. Yes, people want to know what they NEED to know for a job, but we need to connect what people already use with business outcomes.
• Social as Learning Infrastructure
  TikTok, X, and LinkedIn bouncing back isn’t about social media fads. It’s a reminder that learning happens where people are. Instead of trying to pull them into courses, we need to meet them where they scroll.

Learning strategy can’t be about which tools we buy next. It has to be about how we help people use the tools they already choose and connect them to performance. If the list isn’t changing much, the pressure is on us to change how WE think and act.

The disruption isn’t in the tools, it’s in the expectations of how people want to learn.

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