What I Learned as a CLO, and Why It Led Me to Yoodli

I’m Mike Mather, Yoodli’s new Chief Learning Advisor and the former Chief Learning Officer of KPMG US. As a CLO, I learned that real skills come from learning in the flow of work.

My first day at Yoodli didn’t start with an orientation deck. Instead, it started at the CLO Exchange in New York. The room was full of HR, Talent, and Learning leaders talking about the challenges and opportunities we all see today. At the time, I was only days out of my KPMG retirement. Soon I would be on stage with Varun Puri, Yoodli’s co-founder. I’ll admit I felt some nerves. However, the excitement of sharing my journey with my peers quickly took over. I was proud to represent Yoodli and its mission to improve the lives and careers of millions of people. That mission clearly resonated with the group. After that, the next stop was HR Tech.

Mike Mather on stage with Yoodli co-founder and CEO Varun Puri at CLO Exchange in New York.

The question in every room was the same: how do you build real skills when AI is changing how work gets done? I spent years trying to answer that question as a CLO. Here’s what I learned, and why it led me to Yoodli.

What I learned as a CLO about AI upskilling and learning in the flow of work

I spent more than 20 years in consulting before becoming Chief Learning Officer for KPMG US. There, my job was to lead our workforce into the AI and digital age. We did that through programs and experiences that build skills and accelerate performance.

Every learning professional knows this story. We design a program expertly and deliver it flawlessly, yet it still falls short of the real goal: building skills. Technology and tool deployments rank high in this category. For example, I’ve led system migrations to SAP, Workday, and other enterprise systems. But teaching people how to “click” through screens doesn’t build the skills, competencies and confidence to perform. Now AI has created an even bigger gap.

My experience has taught me three lessons about AI upskilling and learning in the flow of work.

First, more learning content isn’t the answer. After all, most enterprises already have more courses than employees can take. Completion rates don’t equal capability.

Second, the fundamentals of skill building haven’t changed. Practice, repetition, feedback and coaching still drive performance. What has changed, though, is the pace. When AI produces the first draft, people need sound judgment and deep expertise more than ever. And they need to build it faster.

Third, learning has to happen in the flow of work. The biggest opportunity for L&D leaders is bringing practice and coaching into the work itself, not pulling people out of it. In fact, I’d go further: we have to design learning into the work itself.

Why I left the CLO seat

Leaving a CLO role at one of the Big Four wasn’t a small decision. In the end, one opportunity made the decision for me. I could help build a platform that gets us much closer to what leaders, learners, and L&D teams keep asking for. They want more tailored, personalized learning. They want to rapidly create and deploy programs and experiences at scale. And they want learners to practice and improve any skill.

Why Yoodli: AI skills training built for learning in the flow of work

Yoodli is the AI Platform for Human Skills. It’s the platform I wanted when I was a CLO: AI-led, but human-centric.

Employees practice the conversations that matter in their roles through realistic AI roleplays and get objective feedback. Then they get support in the moment, while they’re doing the real work. That’s how skills move from training into performance.

Enterprise teams use Yoodli to onboard employees, train people on AI tools, run certifications and put a coach inside their workflow. Those are also the priorities on most CLOs’ agendas right now, and Yoodli delivers them at enterprise scale.

Finally, it was the people. Spending my first week with Varun and Abby confirmed it. This team is focused on client outcomes and is genuinely great to work with.

What’s next for learning leaders

As Chief Learning Advisor, my role is to bring the CLO’s perspective to the table. I’ll work with our clients on the hardest questions their leaders and learners face. I’ll also help shape how Yoodli serves learning and development teams.

Are you a CLO or L&D leader working through what AI means for capability building? If so, I’d love to hear what you’re seeing. Let’s connect.

Frequently asked questions

How is AI changing learning and development?

AI is shifting L&D away from producing more content and toward building judgment and expertise. That’s why practice, feedback and coaching matter more than ever. And they need to happen in the flow of work.

What is learning in the flow of work?

It means building skills while people do their jobs, not only in separate training sessions. In other words, practice and coaching show up at the moment employees need them.

What is Yoodli?

Yoodli is the AI Platform for Human Skills. Teams build realistic roleplays with their own processes, data and language. Employees then practice with AI clients, coaches and leaders. As a result, enterprises use it for onboarding, training on any skill or tool, certifications and in-workflow coaching.

What does a Chief Learning Advisor do at Yoodli?

Mike Mather brings a former CLO’s perspective to Yoodli’s clients and product, helping learning leaders solve their hardest capability-building challenges.

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Mike Mather is Chief Learning Advisor at Yoodli and former Chief Learning Officer of KPMG US.