7 key highlights from Pluralsight Navigate 2023

Refactor the future. That was the theme of this year’s Pluralsight Navigate, an exclusive, in-person conference for leaders across the tech landscape. On October 17 – 19, leaders came together in Salt Lake City, Utah, to build meaningful connections, dive into actionable insights, and sharpen their competitive edge through the power of generative AI to meet the future head-on. 

From our Best in Tech Awards to fireside chats with acclaimed leaders in the tech space, we’re bringing you the highlights from Navigate 2023.

• Unlocking the potential of human intelligence with Aaron Skonnard
  
• Alexis Ohanian’s tips for creating a better future with GenAI
• Going beyond typical business storytelling with Guy Raz
• Pluralsight shares AI and Pluralsight Flow product updates
• Upskilling insights from SAP and Delta Air Lines
• IDC: Insights into the IT skills shortage
• Get to know the 2023 Best in Tech Awards winners
• Got FOMO? Catch up on demand.

Pluralsight Co-founder and CEO Aaron Skonnard took center stage to share exciting updates and highlight the essential skills and strategies organizations need to navigate the new frontier of tech. In a time when we’re all talking about artificial intelligence, he emphasized that it’s human intelligence that will unlock the potential of AI—and every other technology. 

Get more insights from Aaron about human intelligence and AI.

Alexis Ohanian, the Founder of Seven Seven Six and the co-founder and former Executive Chairman of Reddit, shared his journey from video games and programming to entrepreneurial success and being on the right side of disruption. 

During his fireside chat, Alexis explained how we can create a better future by giving everyone the opportunity to learn technologies like generative AI. From medical breakthroughs to educational opportunities, he believes AI technology can make the world “suck less.” 

“We’re seeing a tool that can help unlock creativity,” he shared. “We will finally have infinitely patient tutors for whatever we need.”

Alexis also noted that we’ll see people use AI tools to conquer menial tasks so they can focus on more valuable activities and become more efficient. “I think it’ll lead to more productive work, happier work,” he said.

“The main reason I tell stories is [because] it’s how I learn,” said Guy Raz, award-winning podcast creator, author, radio personality, and journalist. In his fireside chat, Guy shared how he learned to tell stories in the radio and podcast space. 

His goal? To break away from the typical business stories we hear—the ones that lack inspiration and don’t tell the whole story. He created “How I Built This,” a highly acclaimed NPR podcast about innovators, their stories, and what they’ve built. 

After 700 interviews, Guy has identified patterns about what makes people successful. He let us in on three things great leaders do:

1. They build a culture of collaboration where cross-pollination across business functions is encouraged and incentivized. 

2. They encourage risk-taking, even when it requires trust. 

3. They make room for failure and acknowledge that certain risks won’t work out. 

As Guy said, “Failure almost always lays the groundwork for a future innovation.” The brands that are successful, creative, and future-ready aren’t just doing these things—they’re constantly recalibrating how to do them even better.

What’s next at Pluralsight? Greg Ceccarelli, Pluralsight’s Chief Product Officer, announced exciting product updates:

• New courses, assessments, and generative AI content across specialized domains

• An AI assistant to help leaders and learners solve problems and find relevant courses, skills, and roles 

• AI sandboxes for enabling learners to build AI skills in a risk-free environment

Attendees also got a closer look at the new Flow Single-Tenant and Flow Git Metadata Collector services. Each service is designed to give teams more visibility into the performance of their engineering teams. 

Flow Single-Tenant provides an enterprise-ready, fully isolated, dedicated SaaS service hosted and managed by Pluralsight and deployed on AWS. It leverages a PrivateLink connection to ensure that all data is encrypted while in transit and at rest. 

Flow Git Metadata Collector, on the other hand, is designed for organizations that host their source code repos on-premise, offering an additional layer of security without requiring the managing and hosting of an entire Flow instance.

Learn more about Pluralsight's AI solution.

Max Wessel, EVP of Learning at SAP, chatted with Aaron Skonnard about how to help teams become cloud-first. Given the fast pace of technical change, it’s imperative that learning remains a critical operation function. 

So how do you achieve workforce transformation? Max shared the following tips:

• Identify skill priorities

• Use Skill IQ assessments to get insights into where people are

• Build the training program around that data

• Lean on that same data to inform investments, timelines, etc. 

• Use generative AI to increase access to learning and insights

• Keep true, reliable content at the center of learning

Bryan Alli, General Manager of Business Transformation at Delta Air Lines, also took the stage to discuss how orgs can make IT a competitive advantage. He explained how Delta did this when upskilling their team for a cloud migration.

Delta customized learning experiences for specific personas using a blend of Pluralsight Skills content and content presented by Delta subject-matter experts. This step was the key to making learning engaging. “We have to make learning relevant to our operation,” said Bryan.

Gina Smith, Research Director at analyst firm IDC, shared the latest research about the IT skills shortage and how emerging technologies are impacting teams across the enterprise. The main takeaway? The IT skills shortage is only growing as technology moves faster than companies can train their employees. 

Gina shared these data points:

• Two-thirds of global enterprises saw revenue, quality, and competitiveness decline as a result of the skills shortage.

• By 2025, IDC predicts that more than 90% of enterprises will be impacted, costing $6.5 trillion in product delays, quality issues, customer satisfaction, and missed revenue goals. 

• AI and ML roles are among those hardest to fill in 2023.*

So, how can leaders address the unrelenting skills shortage? Gina recommended building a culture of learning. When you invest in skills and align upskilling with organizational goals, you close skills gaps while giving technologists the clear career paths they crave.

Read the full IDC research brief.

*IDC Skills Forward: Staying Competitive Amid the Worsening IT Talent Shortage, Doc #US51248323, September 2023

In an industry that requires adaptability and innovation, some people and organizations go above and beyond. Our Best in Tech Awards recognize these leaders and change-makers for their innovation, expertise, and ability to inspire those around them.

Get to know this year’s platinum winners:

• Developer Delivery: BNY Mellon

• Cloud Transformation: Prudential

• Upskilling & Reskilling: Workday

• Security: Sage

• Tech Fluency: Blue Shield California

• Changemaker: Caitlin Carpenter

Learn more about the 2023 BiT Awards winners.

Navigate gave leaders the insights they need to take their org to the next level—today, tomorrow, and years into the future. If you couldn’t attend in person, check out our daily recaps for Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3. 

Watch Pluralsight Navigate 2023 free on demand.