The last time you had a question at work, what did you do? Did you ask AI? Go to an intranet? Maybe even Google it?
Whatever you did, I’d bet you didn’t go to your LMS.
Employees rarely see the LMS as their go-to source of information. And only about half of L&D practitioners expect it to remain the backbone of their tech stack in the next few years.
That’s a problem, especially when it’s one of the most significant investments in the L&D budget.
Because when people can get answers instantly, in the flow of work, they stop going out of their way to use separate systems.
AI is now the fastest way to get an answer, right where work is happening. That should change how you think about — and invest in — your tech stack.
What’s really in your L&D tech stack?
When people talk about an L&D tech stack, they usually mean the systems L&D “owns” (or pays for). I think about it more broadly as an ecosystem of tools where knowledge is created, shared, and applied.
That spans a few different areas:
- Content management and delivery
Learning Management Systems (LMS), Learning Experience Platforms (LXP), internal learning portals - Content creation
eLearning authoring tools, design software, video platforms - External content and programs
Third-party content libraries, coaching platforms, cohort-based learning, certification providers - Work systems
AI tools, survey and feedback platforms, intranets, shared workspaces, videoconferencing
Learning shows up across all of these. That’s what makes the tech stack harder to think about. It’s how all of these systems work together.
Mapping this ecosystem is only the first step. You need to know what you have, how people use it, and where they don’t. Where the systems are disconnected.
That’s where L&D has the greatest opportunity with its tech stack — to find ways to work better within systems that employees are already using.
How to assess your tech stack
Start by understanding where work happens.
Talk to IT, department leads, HR business partners, and peers. Ask how their teams work, what tools they rely on, and where people go when they need help.
From there, review each system the same way. Look at how it’s used, how hard it is to use, and what you’re getting from it.
Once you review a system this way, the pattern becomes clear. Here's an example to illustrate this method.
Decide what stays, what changes, and what goes
Once you’ve assessed your stack, the next step is deciding what to do with what you’ve found. Most decisions fall into three categories:
- Keep the system when it’s clearly doing its job. Usage is consistent, it supports something critical, and there isn’t a simpler way to do it.
- Repurpose the system when it still has value. Keep it for what it does well, like tracking or compliance, and move everything else closer to where work actually happens.
- Remove the system when the cost and complexity outweigh what you’re getting from it. Usage is low, friction is high, and the use case is narrow. There are simpler, more cost-effective ways to solve the same problem.
Where to make the change
Repurposing and removing systems creates capacity and frees up resources. The question is what to do with that time or money.
This is where most teams default to adding something new. Instead, focus on bringing learning into a specific workflow — writing an onboarding plan, preparing for a conversation, or working through a process that doesn’t happen often — and build learning into it.
The goal is to change how learning shows up, one workflow at a time.
Here’s how that maps to real learning problems.
What to take from this
Learning already exists across your systems. The issue is whether people can reach it when they need it.
Start with one workflow. Look at where people pause, and make it easier to get the right support in that moment.
Then review your tools. Keep what works, change what doesn’t, and remove what isn’t used.
Be careful about adding anything new. If access is still hard, it won’t fix the problem.
About the author
Learning and Development Evangelist
Amy Vidor
Amy Vidor, PhD is a Learning & Development Evangelist at Synthesia, where she researches emerging learning trends and helps organizations apply AI to learning at scale. With 15 years of experience across the public and private sectors, she has advised high-growth technology companies, government agencies, and higher education institutions on modernizing how people build skills and capability. Her work focuses on translating complex expertise into practical, scalable learning and examining how AI is reshaping development, performance, and the future of work.
Frequently asked questions
What is an L&D tech stack?
An L&D tech stack includes the tools used to create, manage, and deliver learning, along with the systems employees already use where learning also shows up — like intranets, survey tools, and shared workspaces.
Why does the L&D tech stack feel fragmented?
Learning is spread across systems with different owners. Content, communication, and day-to-day work often live in separate places, so the experience depends on how those systems connect.
How do you assess your L&D tech stack?
Start with the tools L&D owns, the tools it relies on but doesn’t manage, and the places employees already go to learn or work. Then, look at where those systems connect cleanly and where they create friction.
When should you add a new tool?
Add a tool when there is a clear gap in how learning is created, delivered, or accessed. In many cases, improving how existing systems are used or connected will solve the problem.
Where does learning happen today?
Learning happens across systems — inside LMS platforms, shared documents, messaging tools, and increasingly within the tools people use to get their work done.
