LinkedIn Live
State of L&D for SMBs 2026 – LIVE!
What does L&D really look like for SMBs heading into 2026?
This year’s conversation brings together:
🧠 Fred Thompson – Founder & CEO, Thirst
🎤 Tom McDowall – L&D consultant, speaker, and your host
Together, they’ll dig into what the data is really telling us about budgets, ROI pressure, AI adoption, skills frameworks, leadership capability, and time poverty, and how high-performing SMB teams are responding.
In this session, we’ll explore:
✅ What’s changed for SMB L&D teams since last year – and what hasn’t
✅ Why proving impact has become the #1 challenge heading into 2026
✅ Where AI is genuinely helping smaller teams (and where confidence is still low)
✅ The growing skills maturity gap, and how teams are moving from “in development” to real capability
✅ Practical ways L&D teams can stay strategic, even with flat budgets and limited time
Think of this as a live debrief of the report with context, challenge, and honest discussion you won’t get from the data alone.
