Stagility: How L&D Leaders Can Navigate AI-Driven Change with Ashley Corcoran of The Home Depot

Ashley Corcoran, Director of Learning Design and Development of The Home Depot, joins us to talk about what it takes to reinvent a learning and development team at scale while AI reshapes how the work gets done. Her team builds learning experiences for 450,000 associates across retail stores, outside sales and service, and supply chain.

Ashley shares why the business is her lead indicator for where L&D is headed, how she separates problems to be solved from tensions to be managed, and why leaders need “stagility” — a balance of stability and agility — to help teams adapt without losing their footing. She also shares how The Home Depot’s internship program gives early-career talent meaningful work and opportunities to make a real impact from the start.

KEY TAKEAWAYS



00:00 Why people capabilities make or break every system

02:13 A clear mission as the team’s North Star

03:33 L&D’s shift from content creation to performance consulting

09:46 Thirty years of L&D, from e-learning to AI

14:09 Why the business sets L&D’s pace

15:56 AI as a blank slate moment for L&D teams

18:06 Problem to solve or tension to manage?

21:32 What early career talent really wants from an internship

27:12 Stagility: balancing stability and agility

28:42 Ashley’s book pick for aspiring L&D leaders

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RESOURCES MENTIONED

Georgia Tech, where Ashley studied before starting her career in business consulting and systems implementation:

https://www.gatech.edu/

The Home Depot, where Ashley has spent nearly 22 years in L&D and leads learning design and development for 450,000 associates:

https://corporate.homedepot.com/

The Home Depot Internship Program, the paid 11-week program Ashley’s team uses as a talent pipeline:

https://careers.homedepot.com/student-internships/ 

Georgia State University, whose master’s degree students have joined Ashley’s team as interns and full-time hires:

https://www.gsu.edu/

Andy Stanley on managing organizational tension, the source of the problem-or-tension question Ashley uses with her team:

https://andystanley.com/managing-organizational-tension-transcript

“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey, the source of the changeless core idea Ashley uses to anchor her team through change:

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-7-Habits-of-Highly-Effective-People/Stephen-R-Covey/9781982137137 

“Impact Players” by Liz Wiseman, Ashley’s book recommendation for every aspiring L&D leader:

https://impactplayersbook.com/

Reforestation World, TrainingPros’ company charity, referenced by the host. TrainingPros has planted almost 6,000 trees to date through this initiative:

https://www.reforestationworld.org/

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