Shannon Howard (Host):
Hello, everybody, and welcome to this month's Underscore! Today, we're going to be talking about trends and predictions for 2025. We might also have a spicy little debate ahead of us - we’ll see!
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A quick introduction - my name is Shannon Howard, and I’m the Director of Customer and Content Marketing at Intellum. I have the pleasure of hosting this series every month. Before we get started, I’ll make a quick plug: we’re currently conducting research on education-led growth. We’re exploring how education is being used strategically to drive business outcomes.
If you have a moment after the webinar to fill out our survey, you’ll be entered for a chance to win access to one of Darren’s online courses as a thank-you for participating. We’ll also make sure you get a copy of the research.
Now, without further ado, I’d like to introduce today’s panelists.
First, we have Lindsay - Lindsay, want to give us a little wave? Awesome!
Lindsay and Chris are the co-founders of SaaS Academy Advisors, where they help clients build and implement customer education strategies. Their focus is on transformational education - not just helping customers use a product, but actually changing how people think and work within a given subject.
Both Lindsay and Chris were founding members of HubSpot Academy, which is an incredible example of transformational education in action.
We also have John Leh on the call today! John is the CEO and analyst at Talented Learning. He has been in this industry for a long time, and I’m really excited to hear his insights and predictions for 2025.
Let’s go ahead and have each panelist introduce themselves.
Lindsay:
Thanks, Shannon! I’m so happy to be here and excited to get into what might be a spicy conversation - we’ll see. It’s hard to believe we’re already wrapping up this year and looking ahead to 2025.
As Shannon mentioned, I joined HubSpot Academy back in 2013. My path into customer education actually started as a HubSpot customer. At the time, HubSpot was fantastic at creating eBooks and blog posts, but as a customer, I kept asking, What are you doing for us after the purchase? I knew there was so much more I could learn about the product, and I wanted more education.
That led me to join HubSpot Academy’s founding team, where I worked for eight years developing processes, certification programs, and building a scalable, global education strategy.
Chris and I became deeply passionate about transformational education - how education can be much more than just product training. We wanted to help other SaaS businesses harness the power of education to drive growth and long-term success. Today, we work with companies of all sizes, at different academy program stages, helping them transform how they develop and scale education.
Chris:
Thanks, Lindsay!
I’ll skip the HubSpot part since Lindsay covered it well. We both left HubSpot in 2020 to explore how we could help other businesses implement customer academies like HubSpot’s.
One of the biggest things we’ve learned over the last four years is that every company’s operational culture dictates how they approach education. There’s no one-size-fits-all strategy - success depends on how a company’s structure and teams align.
That’s why I’m excited for today’s discussion. So many of the things we’re working on in 2024 started emerging in 2022, and now we’re seeing those seeds grow. I’m looking forward to diving into what’s next for 2025 and beyond.
John Leh:
Thanks, Shannon, Chris, and Lindsay - so happy to be here!
This is an exciting topic for me because I’ve been in this space for nearly three decades. I actually got my Master’s degree in Instructional Technology 25 years ago, but at the time, all we learned about was employee performance and talent development.
When I got my first job, I quickly realized that wasn’t what companies were actually doing. Instead, we were creating CD-ROMs for tech and telecom companies like Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, and Unisys. In fact, we were doing customer education before the internet even became mainstream!
I spent 14 years selling enterprise learning management systems (LMS), specifically for customer and partner education - an area that was largely ignored by traditional corporate training.
That’s why, 11 years ago, I decided to start Talented Learning. I saw a gap in the market - nobody was deeply covering customer education technology - so I started blogging, consulting, and helping organizations choose the right LMS for external learning use cases.
Today, my focus is reviewing learning technology every single day so we can help companies make the best decisions for their customer and partner education programs. I’m excited to share what I’ve learned and make some bold predictions for 2025 - hopefully some spicy ones!
Shannon:
Alright, let’s dive into our first prediction - AI is going to require companies to invest more in education to drive customer outcomes.
Chris, want to start us off?
Chris:
Absolutely! AI is transforming business models, especially in SaaS. We’ve seen the transition from seat-based pricing to usage-based pricing and, more recently, outcome-based pricing.
This shift means that companies need to ensure that customers are seeing value from day one - because if they’re not, they may not stay long enough to renew.
If businesses are charging based on AI consumption or measurable outcomes, then customer education will be critical in ensuring customers know how to use the product effectively and get the most out of their investment.
John:
I completely agree. We’re seeing this trend in learning technology providers as well. At first, many tried to absorb AI costs, but now they’re realizing, If customers are using this AI-driven learning at scale, maybe we should start charging based on usage.
It’s interesting because customer education has always focused on outcomes - reducing support costs, increasing customer satisfaction, or improving product adoption. AI is only accelerating the need for education programs that directly impact business results.
Lindsay:
Right - this is great news for customer education professionals! AI isn’t replacing education; it’s elevating its importance.
Whether your company is already using usage-based pricing or not, customer education will play a key role in ensuring users understand the product and see success quickly.
Education teams need to be more proactive than ever, providing learning before users hit roadblocks. AI-driven tools will help us scale education more efficiently, but they won’t replace the need for high-quality, human-driven learning experiences.
Shannon:
Exactly! This is a positive shift for education teams. Instead of AI replacing our jobs, it’s actually making education more essential than ever in driving customer success and retention.
Let’s move on to our next prediction…
Shannon:
Keeping in the vein of AI, let’s talk about how AI will fundamentally shift our work toward more strategic activities.
Lindsay, want to kick this one off?
Lindsay:
Absolutely! This is actually a positive shift for customer education professionals. AI will not replace us, but it will allow us to focus on more strategic work.
For example, we’ll spend less time manually updating content - AI can flag outdated material and even suggest updates. Instead, we can focus on personalizing education and ensuring it’s delivered at the right time and place for learners.
Education is shifting to be more embedded in workflows, so rather than just delivering structured courses, we’ll be orchestrating learning experiences that feel natural and contextual.
John:
Yeah, and let’s be honest - every major technological shift has led to some form of job displacement. Whether it was the industrial revolution, automation, or even e-learning replacing in-person training, there’s always been a period of adjustment.
The good news is that those who embrace AI early will level up their skills and stay ahead of the curve. If you’re in customer education and you’re thinking, I can hold off on AI for a few years, I’d challenge you to start now.
The professionals who strategically adopt AI will thrive, while those who resist it may struggle to adapt as expectations change.
Chris:
Exactly! AI isn’t just changing how we create content, it’s changing how we think about business operations.
SaaS companies using AI are rethinking core business functions - from sales and marketing to customer support. Education teams need to stay ahead by ensuring that customers and employees alike are equipped to navigate this new landscape.
This is where customer education can add immense value - helping companies upskill their teams and helping customers adapt to AI-driven workflows.
Shannon:
Another major shift we’ve seen is customer education and community going hand-in-hand.
John, what are you seeing in this space?
John:
Historically, community management and customer education were separate functions - community was owned by marketing, while education sat in customer success or product.
That’s changing. More companies are realizing that community is a powerful learning tool. In 2024, I saw several learning technology providers start to incorporate community features into their platforms.
I predict that in 2025 and beyond, we’ll see LMS providers adding more social learning capabilities, allowing customers to ask questions, share insights, and contribute knowledge in real-time.
Lindsay:
Right! The real power of community-led learning is in peer-to-peer knowledge sharing.
Traditional customer education teams were focused on centralizing knowledge - curating and distributing content from inside the company. Now, we’re seeing a shift toward leveraging user-generated insights.
One great example is Figma’s Learning Hub, where they crowdsource design challenges from the community. Instead of just pushing out pre-built training, they encourage customers to solve real-world problems together.
Chris:
That’s a great example! Another one is Atlassian, where their community and education teams are fully integrated.
Atlassian even allows community members to run instructor-led training sessions, empowering power users to teach others.
I expect we’ll see more customer education teams merging with community teams so they can create richer, more interactive learning experiences.
Shannon:
I love that! We actually have an upcoming webinar with Andrew Dell from Atlassian where we’ll talk about how they’re integrating social learning into their strategy.
That leads us to our next discussion - which is actually a bit of a debate…
Shannon:
We’ve talked about the power of community, but let’s dig into a controversial question: Is community-led education a democratizing force or does it create chaos?
Lindsay, I know you have thoughts on this!
Lindsay:
I do! And honestly, I go back and forth on this one.
On one hand, community-driven education is empowering. It allows customers to learn from each other, share real-world experiences, and provide fresh perspectives.
But on the other hand, not all community content is reliable. Sometimes, the loudest voices dominate the conversation, and opinions can get mistaken for facts.
If we don’t moderate discussions properly, misinformation can spread quickly, creating confusion instead of clarity.
Chris:
That’s a great point! Unstructured community-led education can easily spiral into noise.
One way to mitigate the chaos is to create clear incentives for contributors. If people are recognized and rewarded for high-quality contributions, it encourages constructive discussions rather than just random opinions.
Businesses also need to balance community-driven insights with expert-verified content. For example, allowing users to upvote the best answers, like a Reddit-style system, can filter out misinformation.
John:
I agree! Think of social media - there’s valuable content and tons of noise. The challenge is making sure your community-led learning environment leans toward quality over chaos.
But let’s not ignore the biggest benefit - companies learn just as much from their community as customers do.
Communities reveal product gaps, new use cases, and pain points. Businesses that actively listen to their community gain a competitive advantage.
So yes, it can be messy, but the rewards outweigh the risks if it’s managed strategically.
Shannon:
One of the biggest trends we’re seeing is the shift toward seamless learning experiences - where education is integrated directly into the user journey.
John, what does this look like from a technology perspective?
John:
For years, companies treated customer education as something separate - something users had to go out of their way to find.
Now, the expectation is shifting. Customers don’t want another platform. They want education where they’re already working - whether that’s inside their software, help center, or community.
I predict that in a few years, standalone user academies will decline, and companies will invest in embedding learning directly into their product interfaces.
Lindsay:
Yes! Learning shouldn’t be a separate destination - it should be a natural part of the workflow.
Think about Google Docs - when you start typing a formula, it gives you inline suggestions. That’s the kind of embedded learning we need to see in B2B SaaS tools.
Chris:
This is already happening! One of the fastest-growing trends we’re seeing is in-app education.
Instead of sending users to a separate LMS, companies are serving up education inside their software. Whether it’s walkthroughs, tooltips, or embedded videos, the goal is to reduce friction and make learning effortless.
Shannon:
This has been an amazing discussion - thank you, Chris, Lindsay, and John, for sharing your insights!
For everyone on the call, please rate this session and leave feedback! Let us know what topics you want to see in 2025.
Also, don’t forget to check out the attachments below - including our customer education strategy template and the Forrester research report.
Finally, mark your calendars - our next webinar is on January 16th, where we’ll be discussing rethinking social learning with Atlassian’s Andrew Dell.
Thank you all for joining, and we’ll see you next month!