Top 3 Things We Learned at Cornerstone Connect Live Los Angeles 2023

I recently had the pleasure of attending Cornerstone Connect Live in Los Angeles—a compelling gathering of industry trailblazers, technology aficionados, and L&D professionals. The overarching message was unambiguous: Cornerstone has set the stage for a transformative journey across their product suite, including Cornerstone, SumTotal, and Saba. Let's delve into the most salient points of discussion.

#1 - Key Insights from Cornerstone Connect Live LA

A Comprehensive Vision – Cornerstone’s Product Roadmap: Cornerstone’s strategic roadmap was an impressive highlight, revealing a deep focus on both evolving their Learning Management System (LMS) and launching new products like Skills and Content Studios. The atmosphere buzzed with commitment to innovation, making it evident that Cornerstone is firmly invested in the future.

Unlocking Potential with Talent Marketplace: What captured my attention greatly was the groundbreaking concept of Talent Marketplace. This feature aims to harness data from both LMS and Talent Management systems to redefine the way professionals inside an organization find opportunities. Imagine a seamless system that aligns skills and qualifications to specific job roles or learning paths. The sky is the limit here.

The Pivot to Content-Centricity: Cornerstone is putting content front and center. The focus on making content more user-friendly, versatile, and easily manageable. Advancements in content curation, as well as AI-enabled content creation and management, underscore the emphasis on elevating user experience.

AI: A Measured and Ethical Adoption: Cornerstone’s approach to AI is commendably responsible. It suggests that generative AI could lend a hand in content creation while ensuring modifications through their Content Studio tool. The use of AI also extends to designing quizzes and assessments, as well as refining search functionalities for both administrators and users.

The Skills Equilibrium: Bridging the Gap: The conference underlined the importance of recognizing both your existing skillset and future skill needs. The dialogue around AI’s role in balancing these skills was less robust, leaving room for further discussion.

Fresh Leadership, Renewed Focus: The new leadership at Cornerstone, in the helm for about a year, is visibly directing the enterprise toward a promising future. Although gaps remain, especially in customer support, strategic partnerships with organizations like Bluewater are key to amplifying customer value.

#2 - Voices from the Ground: What Customers are Saying

The Quest for Engagement in Learning: The perennial challenge of making learning captivating remains a core concern. Cornerstone is innovating on this front, but customers desire even more inventive strategies to engage learners, particularly in today’s remote or hybrid work settings.

Navigating the Skills Development Maze: While there is fervor around skills development, clear implementation strategies are missing. Customers called for specific guidelines, best practices, and even templates for effective skills development initiatives.

Overcoming the ‘Good Enough’ Mentality: Many organizations are settling for “adequate” learning programs. L&D departments seek to go beyond this, requiring persuasive evidence to demonstrate that a robust learning strategy is not a cost but a long-term asset.

Empowering L&D Advocacy: L&D professionals are in search of compelling data, case studies, and ROI analyses to advocate for greater investment in advanced learning tools and techniques.

Conclusion: Bridging the Promise-Reality Gap: The feedback from customers is a goldmine for both Cornerstone and any organization seeking to optimize their L&D initiatives. The consensus? There's a chasm between what technology promises and the current real-world applications. Bridging this divide will necessitate collective efforts from solution providers like Cornerstone and their customer base.

#3 - The Cornerstone-Bluewater Symbiosis: A Recipe for Success

Customized Support and Mentorship: Bluewater excels at delivering bespoke solutions that enable companies to harness Cornerstone’s full potential, whether it's creating intuitive learning paths or implementing Talent Marketplace.

Skillset Transformation: Beyond general enthusiasm for skills development, Bluewater can help businesses build actionable frameworks that are tailored to their unique goals and workforce requirements.

From ‘Adequate’ to ‘Exceptional’: Bluewater can assist L&D departments in building compelling cases to advocate for more sophisticated learning strategies, effectively transforming L&D from a cost center to a strategic asset.

Facilitating Organizational Change: Change resistance is often an obstacle when adopting new technologies. Bluewater specializes in change management, ensuring smooth transitions to Cornerstone’s cutting-edge solutions.

Final Thoughts

The future looks promising for Cornerstone, and customers are eagerly awaiting what's next. The path to fully unlocking this potential often lies in specialized, strategic support. As a dependable ally, Bluewater is well-positioned to offer this pivotal guidance, enabling companies to not just adapt but excel in their learning and talent management goals.

In today’s rapidly changing landscape, the union of Cornerstone’s technological innovations and Bluewater’s strategic mentorship offers more than just a competitive edge—it is a critical necessity.

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