Summit agenda

Opening notes

Strategic learning in action: Shaping the future

Kimberly Williams Chief Executive Officer, Absorb LMS

Join Kimberly Williams, Chairperson & CEO of Absorb, as she opens Absorb Summit 2025 with a vision for the future of learning. She’ll celebrate customer achievements and explore how AI, skills intelligence, and measurable impact are reshaping learning into a driver of business performance.

Absorb's roadmap & vision (Product)

The future of strategic learning: Absorb’s roadmap

Craig Basford Executive Vice President, Product | Liz Repetto Vice President, Product Management, Absorb

Join Absorb’s Craig Basford and Liz Repetto for a look into the future of learning. This session will share Absorb’s product vision and roadmap, highlighting AI-powered personalization, scalable integrations, and new capabilities that make learning a true driver of growth and performance.

Customer-led

4 steps to align employees with business strategy

Philip Howard-Brand Talent Development Partner, ITRS

Join ITRS to hear how they used Absorb to shift from traditional goal-setting to an OKR-driven culture. This session walks through their blended program of eLearning, live workshops, and onboarding integration—showing how 95% of employees completed training and aligned with company goals.

Thought leadership

Beyond the AI noise: The future of learning in an AI world

David Wilson Founder, CEO, & Chief Analyst, Fosway Group

AI is everywhere, but what’s real and what’s hype in learning? David Wilson, CEO of Fosway Group, shares fresh insights on how companies are using AI in 2025, where it’s working, tech innovation, and key takeaways to drive success with AI in L&D.

Thought leadership

Driving employee impact as a strategic skills-first organization

Leslie Kelley Chief Growth Officer, Absorb | Dani Johnson Cofounder & Principal Analyst, Redthread Research 

Discover how organizations can drive employee impact by shifting to a skills-first strategy. Join RedThread’s Dani Johnson and Absorb’s Leslie Kelley for insights on building learning cultures, embedding growth into work, and measuring results—essential for L&D and business leaders.

Training

Become an Absorb superuser: Core features in action

Brittany Hall Digital Client Success Manager, Absorb | George Menyhert Group Product Manager, Absorb

New to Absorb but ready to level up? This session shows you the shortcuts, hidden features, and time-saving hacks superusers rely on. Learn how to manage learners and content with ease, streamline tasks, and build confidence to run Absorb like a pro.

Training

Become an Absorb superuser: Advanced tips & power features

Melissa Wu Senior Client Success Manager, Absorb  | Trent Sheffield Group Product Manager, Absorb

Already comfortable in Absorb? Take your expertise further with advanced tips, workflows, and hidden gems that seasoned admins rely on. Learn automation tricks, analytics mastery, and deeper feature applications to save time and maximize your LMS at scale.

Training

Beyond compliance building engagement and culture

Absorb, Finance of America, IPS, Sunkist

Struggling with low content adoption or proving ROI? You're not alone. Learn how Absorb customers turned underused libraries into engines for talent development, engagement, and measurable business results. Leave with actionable steps to make your content indispensable.

Training

Absorb Analyze in action: Building dashboards that matter

Brandyn Sfetcu Team Lead-Technical Services, Absorb | Adelle Kingma LMS Administrator, GeoTab | Mina Robertson Associate Product Manager, VSP Optics

Executives want more than completions—they want proof of impact. In this session, Absorb and VSP Optics share real dashboards built in Analyze BI, showing how learning teams connect training to adoption, efficiency, and business outcomes that matter.

Networking roundtables

Connect and share: Virtual roundtables

Join our virtual networking roundtables to connect with peers by industry or use case. Topics are launched a week before kickoff, and you can vote in Summit polls to shape the conversation. A moderator will kick things off, but the discussion is yours—customers sharing ideas, challenges, and solutions.

Customer-led

3 ways to use an LMS for training and events

Robert Popilock Learning & Development Manager, PGA TOUR Superstore

Training programs and events don’t have to be separate. Hear how PGA TOUR Superstore uses Absorb LMS to run employee training, sales enablement, and its annual summit in one platform—saving money, increasing engagement, and improving retention.

Customer-led

Credentialing that protects: Training in practice

Thomas Denniger Vice President Clinical Development, ATI Physical Therapy

ATI Physical Therapy needed a way to ensure only credentialed therapists performed dry needling across its 850+ clinics. Hear how they built a tiered training and credentialing program in Absorb that eliminated unverified scheduling, improved compliance, and strengthened patient safety.

Customer-led

From chaos to capability: Scalable retail learning

Lisa Osborne Learning & Development Manager, Fresh & Save Food Warehouse

Fresh & Save Food Warehouse needed a scalable way to train and onboard frontline staff across a growing retail network. Hear how they launched a branded digital learning program that ensured consistency, accelerated onboarding, and laid the foundation for a culture of learning.

Networking roundtables

Connect and share: Virtual roundtables

Absorb

Join our virtual networking roundtables to connect with peers by industry or use case. Topics are launched a week before kickoff, and you can vote in Summit polls to shape the conversation. A moderator will kick things off, but the discussion is yours—customers sharing ideas, challenges, and solutions.

Customer-led

How participation is shaping Scottish Autism's learning culture

Rebecca Goodsir Senior Practice & Learning Advisor, Scottish Autism

Join Scottish Autism to hear how their Participation and Voice initiative put supported people at the center of staff learning. This session explores how co-production shaped course design, built trust, and created a culture of continuous learning that improved both retention and engagement.

Product

Human connections at work: Coaching and mentoring

Leslie Kelley  Chief Growth Officer, Absorb LMS 

Corporate learning is missing a critical piece: human connection. Discover how integrating mentoring and coaching with your LMS drives engagement and retention. See real examples of companies making mentorship a cornerstone of their culture. 

Product

What's New at Absorb, Q3

Product Team, Absorb

Stay informed with Absorb’s latest product enhancements! Join us for the Q3 product update webinar, where our Product team will walk you through the newest features designed to make learning smarter, easier, and more accessible.

Customer-led

4 customers share proven ways learning drives growth

CS Leader, Rho, Suncor Energy, DuraLine, Whirlpool

Learning isn’t just compliance—it’s strategy. In this panel, Absorbies finalists from Rho, Suncor, Duraline, and Whirlpool share proven ways learning drives growth, retention, and measurable business results. Expect real stories, fresh ideas, and practical insights to apply in your own programs.

Training

Creating and sustaining impactful learning programs 

Andy Wade Training Programs Manager, Gordian | Liza Pugh Sr. Customer Marketing Manager, Absorb

Even the best learning program won’t succeed if no one knows about it, cares about it, or believes in it. Join Gordian’s Andy Wade and Absorb’s Liza Pugh as they share how they create, launch, and market their learning initiatives — from webinars and playbooks to mentoring — and the strategies that drive adoption, engagement, and measurable impact.

Training

Your guide to Absorb Academy and Strategic Playbooks

Cassidy Osterling Community Manager, Absorb | Jenny Peters Customer Enablement Specialist, Absorb

Even the best learning program won’t succeed if no one knows about it, cares about it, or believes in it. Join Gordian’s Andy Wade and Absorb’s Liza Pugh as they share how they create, launch, and market their learning initiatives — from webinars and playbooks to mentoring — and the strategies that drive adoption, engagement, and measurable impact.

Customer-led

Small team, big impact: LAZ’s learning strategy

Leeanne Roath Learning Experience Designer, LAZ Parking | Colt Alton Learning Experience & Technology Manager, LAZ Parking

How did LAZ Parking’s lean L&D team scale learning for 15,000+ employees? In this session, hear how they built 200+ courses in under a year using Absorb LMS and Create. Learn how a small team streamlined compliance, delivered role-specific training, and drove results that strengthened culture and performance. 

Customer-led

How CDM Smith made mentorship a driver of retention and promotions

Jason Beck Manager of Learning Systems, CDM Smith

Mentorship can’t just be a “feel-good” program, it has to show results. Learn how CDM Smith modernized its mentoring program to scale globally, deliver consistent experiences, and prove business impact. Discover how mentoring drove higher retention, faster promotions, and measurable employee growth.

Thought leadership

Social learning in action: Engage, connect, grow

Rachel Cooke Chief Operating Officer & Principal Analyst, Brandon Hall Group

Learning doesn’t just happen in courses—it happens through people. In this session with Brandon Hall Group, explore how social learning builds stronger communities, drives engagement, and enables real behavior change through peer connection and shared experiences.

Thought leadership

First steps to business impact: Customer ed 101

John Leh  CEO & Lead Analyst, Talented Learning 

Curious about customer education but not sure where to start? This session breaks down the basics—what it is, why it matters, and how it drives adoption, renewals, and reduced support costs. Learn how to spot early opportunities, launch a pilot program, and prove measurable business value.