The Adobe Learning Summit 2025 just wrapped up, and we’re still buzzing from all the amazing conversations, insights, and connections that happened. If you were there, you know what we’re talking about. If you missed it, don’t worry – we’ve got you covered with all the highlights.
This year’s summit was special. We dove deep into AI workflows, explored accessibility-first design, discovered new gamification strategies, and learned how to create content faster than ever.
But more than anything, we connected as a community of learning professionals who are navigating this exciting (and sometimes overwhelming) transformation together.
Here are some of our favorite moments from the three days.
Day 0: Mastering Adobe Captivate
Before the main event kicked off, 120 dedicated professionals attended day-long training on Adobe Captivate, as part of the Adobe Certified Professional program. They spent the day building the skills needed to create the learning experiences of tomorrow.
Day 1: Reframing Our Relationship with AI
The Adobe Learning Summit 2025 was led by Jeremy Utley, Adjunct Professor of AI and Design Thinking at Stanford. His speech on “Realizing AI’s Potential” reframed how attendees think about AI in learning and development.
“The only right answer to ‘how often do you use AI’ is ‘I don’t use AI. I work with AI,’” he said. “Our language belies our mental models. And this simple shift from ‘use it’ to ‘work with it’ is actually an important and a profound shift.”
According to Jeremy, when we “use” AI, it’s a tool we control. When we “work with” AI, it becomes a collaborative partner. That changes everything about how we integrate it into learning design.
Then came the quote everyone kept coming back to: “Dopey is the price of delight.”
Jeremy reminded us that most organizations claim they want breakthrough ideas, but we’re all afraid of sounding dumb. If avoiding mistakes is your main goal, you won’t get innovative thinking. Great ideas require volume and variation, even when some ideas sound silly at first.
It was the perfect opening for a summit focused on experimentation and pushing boundaries.
After the keynote, attendees split into four specialized breakout tracks:
- Adobe Captivate
- Multimedia
- Learning Experience Design
- Learning Strategy
The expo floor was alive with energy, thanks to our incredible sponsors: CoSo Cloud, Harbinger, Training Mag, PwC, Cognizant, and CarahSoft. Conversations flowed, demos impressed, and connections were made.
As Day 1 wound down, the networking reception gave everyone a chance to decompress, share insights, and begin forming the relationships that would carry forward long after the summit ended.
Day 2: Putting Ideas into Action
Day 2 opened with a fireside chat between Dr. Majd Sakr, CLO, Accenture and Amit Dayal, VP and General Manager, Adobe. They brought a practical, actionable perspective that complemented Jeremy’s theoretical framework perfectly.
Dr. Sakr delivered a powerful reminder about aligning learning with business priorities:
“I think all of us, in learning, sometimes we’re not well in tune with what does the C-suite worry about these days. We need to think how they think. So they’re thinking about: How do I remain relevant? How do I make sure I don’t lose market share or grow market share? How do I improve efficiency and improve profitability? Is my workforce ready to deliver on our ambitious goals? And then how do I do this without exposing ourselves to risk and doing this ethically? Those are the things that the C-suite is currently thinking about.”
Dr. Sakr also outlined a practical three-dimensional framework for AI in learning:
- How do we support the learner?
- How do we rapidly create high-quality content that’s contextualized to the learner?
- How do we measure if the learning is working or not?
The breakout sessions on AI in learning and Industry Practices brought the theory to life with real-world examples from practitioners across industries.
We heard from Carlos Alfaro and Erick Prospero (Ninja Tropic) on AI-enhanced microlearning, Joe Leslie (Golin) on his 5DI framework for rapid content development, Adam Beardslee (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan) on budget-friendly gamification, Ashley Tierney (State of Illinois) on scaling accessibility-first design, and BeHai Ligas (Salesforce) on integrating AI into curriculum development.
Each session packed practical takeaways you could start using right away.
Throughout the summit, the Captivate Migration Helpdesk provided hands-on support for attendees transitioning projects from Captivate Classic to the new version.
For some customers, the migration worked perfectly. For others, the engineering team gathered invaluable feedback on features needed to make the migration process even smoother, a perfect example of the collaborative spirit that defined the entire event.
Wrapping up
The summit concluded with a raffle drawing for three prizes. It was a fun way to end what had been a pretty intense few days of learning and connecting. People headed home with new strategies, valuable connections, and a better understanding of where learning and development is headed. The energy, insights, and connections from these three days will ripple out for months to come.
Until next time, Adobe Learning Summit!
