What L&D Leaders Say About Face-to-Face Learning in a GenAI World

Face-to-face training is not only surviving the GenAI revolution — it is growing. In a survey of 25 senior L&D professionals conducted for The Role of Face-to-Face Learning in a GenAI World report, 100% said face-to-face learning remains an integral part of the future learning experience. The majority plan to use the same amount or more in future programme design.

That finding alone should give pause to anyone who assumed that generative AI, virtual classrooms, and digital platforms would steadily push in-person training to the margins. The reality is more nuanced — and more encouraging for organisations that understand how to use each format strategically.

This article draws on the report's survey data, expert interviews, and research to explore what senior L&D professionals are seeing on the ground: why face-to-face demand is rising, how the format is evolving, and what it means for organisations designing learning programmes in 2026 and beyond.

Is Face-to-Face Training Still Relevant in a GenAI World?

Yes — and the evidence is unambiguous. Every single respondent in the survey confirmed that face-to-face learning remains integral to their organisation's learning strategy. This is not a nostalgic attachment to old formats. It reflects a hard-won, post-pandemic understanding of what works.

In the immediate aftermath of Covid, the prevailing assumption was that hybrid and virtual delivery would substantially replace face-to-face training. Organisations invested heavily in digital platforms, video conferencing, and asynchronous content libraries. Many expected permanent reductions in travel, venue spend, and in-person programme delivery.

The reality has been different. As Richard Smith, Chief Commercial Officer at Wyboston Venue Management, explains: "Face-to-face is fundamentally important and trying to put the accent on virtual as the majority of training didn't achieve the aims they wanted to." Organisations in professional services, healthcare, finance, and the public sector have confirmed this through their booking patterns and programme design decisions.

Rather than choosing sides, the most effective L&D teams are adopting a context driven learning design approach — selecting the right format for the right objective, rather than defaulting to one modality. Digital excels at scale and knowledge transfer. Face-to-face excels at relational depth, behavioural change, and leadership development. The organisations getting the best outcomes are the ones that understand the distinction and design accordingly.

What Has Changed About Face-to-Face Learning Since Covid?

Face-to-face training has evolved significantly — from passive, instructor-led sessions to interactive, experiential programmes that make deliberate use of the fact that people are together in the same room. The format has returned, but it has not returned unchanged.

The old model — what Dr Nigel Paine, leadership expert and author, calls "orthodox training" — relied on slide decks, minimal interaction, and one-way knowledge transfer. As Paine observes: "It didn't work then and it doesn't work now." Today's most effective face-to-face programmes look fundamentally different. They prioritise active engagement, group exercises, coaching, and experiential activities that justify the time, cost, and logistics of bringing people together.

Technology has played a significant role in this evolution. AI-powered tools now support in-session engagement through live polling, real-time sentiment analysis, and personalised learning pathways. These tools position AI in corporate training as an enhancer, not a replacement — handling diagnostics and personalisation so that facilitators can focus on the human interaction that makes face-to-face uniquely valuable.

Hybrid structures have also matured. Many programmes now incorporate digital pre-work that prepares delegates before they arrive, high-impact face-to-face sessions that maximise the value of time together, and post-session digital reinforcement that sustains learning after delegates return to work. This integrated approach treats generative AI in learning and development as a bridge between formats, not a substitute for any of them.

Increasingly, providers are also embracing experience led learning design that treats the full delegate journey — from arrival to departure — as part of the programme. The classroom session is just one element. What happens in breakout spaces, over meals, during informal conversations, and in the transitions between activities all contribute to the learning outcome.

Venues like Wyboston Lakes Resort are responding to this shift by designing training environments that integrate technology with purposeful in-person spaces — enabling facilitators to combine the best of both worlds.

Why Are Organisations Increasing Their Investment in Face-to-Face Training?

Organisations are investing more in face-to-face training for three reinforcing reasons: the skills most in demand require it, the budgets are becoming more realistic, and the evidence base for in-person learning continues to strengthen.

The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 identifies resilience, leadership, and emotional intelligence as among the most in-demand skills by 2030. These are not skills that can be developed through e-learning modules or video-based instruction alone. They require practice, feedback, vulnerability, and the kind of relational engagement that only happens when people are in the same room. As Nahdia Khan, Director at Tasir Consulting, notes, these skills "thrive in live environments."

These are precisely the skills where behaviour change through face to face training delivers what digital cannot. Information can be distributed at scale through technology. But shifting attitudes, building empathy, and practising interpersonal skills depend on conditions that are significantly harder to create through a screen.

Survey respondents reflected this shift: "Companies are finally seeing the benefits of in person training in terms of team building, sustainability, trust, productivity and are much more realistic with budgets when it comes to staff wellbeing." The post-pandemic period has produced not just renewed demand for face-to-face, but a more sophisticated understanding of when and why it matters.

The neuroscience of face to face learning confirms this from a different angle — relational learning activates more brain areas, contributing to longer-lasting outcomes. Immersive, socially situated experiences lead to deeper cognitive engagement and retention, which explains why in person soft skills development consistently outperforms remote alternatives when the objective is lasting behavioural change. When people learn together in person, their brainwaves synchronise — generating a form of collective intelligence that does not occur through screens.

At Wyboston Lakes Resort, this trend is reflected in growing demand for contracted training spaces — long-term arrangements where organisations tailor dedicated learning environments to their specific needs. Rather than booking rooms on an ad-hoc basis, organisations are choosing to invest in consistent, purpose-built spaces that support their programmes over time.

What Do Senior L&D Professionals Say About the Role of F2F in 2026?

Senior L&D practitioners are clear: face-to-face learning is not a legacy format being tolerated — it is a strategic tool being deliberately deployed. The conversations have moved beyond "should we still do face-to-face?" to "how do we use it most effectively?"

Nahdia Khan captures the consensus: "Despite advances in digital and AI-driven learning, face-to-face learning remains a vital component of the L&D mix." Technology cannot replicate the relational and trust-building functions that make in-person learning uniquely effective for certain outcomes.

There is a compelling paradox at work. The rise of GenAI is not diminishing demand for face-to-face — it is partly driving it. As AI becomes better at delivering knowledge, content, and information at scale, the distinctly human skills — leadership, empathy, collaboration, trust — become more valuable, not less. Organisations recognise that these skills cannot be automated, and that developing them requires the kind of relational depth that only in-person environments provide. The differentiator for tomorrow's workforce is not what people know — it is how they relate, lead, and collaborate. Those capabilities are built face-to-face.

Creating the conditions for effective learning means building trust through in person learning — something technology cannot replicate. Psychological safety, rapport, and the willingness to be vulnerable in a learning environment are all built significantly faster in person, where micro-expressions, body language, and shared informal moments do the work that screens cannot.

Forward-thinking organisations are also recognising that how training environment impacts learning is just as important as the curriculum itself. The physical space, the design of breakout areas, the quality of informal social spaces — all of these contribute to the learning outcome in ways that are now well-documented.

This is shifting how organisations think about venue relationships. The traditional model of booking a different hotel conference room for each programme is giving way to a more strategic approach. Organisations are increasingly making the business case for contracted training space — moving from ad-hoc bookings to long-term learning partnerships that provide consistency, customisation, and cost predictability. The shift from one-off venue bookings to building a corporate learning ecosystem reflects a broader maturation of how organisations think about learning infrastructure.

The most effective L&D strategies in 2026 do not treat face-to-face and digital as competing options. They adopt a blended learning strategy for L&D that uses each format for what it does best — digital for reach, AI for personalisation, and face-to-face for the relational depth that drives lasting behavioural change. The evidence from the report is clear: this is not a debate about whether face-to-face learning has a future. It is a conversation about how to use it most strategically — and the organisations that get this right will have a significant advantage in developing the workforce capabilities that matter most.

The trajectory is also producing a new generation of experiential corporate training programmes that look nothing like the slide-deck-heavy sessions of the past — shorter, higher-impact, and designed around the human interaction that makes in-person learning irreplaceable.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is face-to-face training declining?

No. Demand for face-to-face training has resurged post-Covid and continues to grow. In a survey of 25 senior L&D professionals, 100% said face-to-face learning remains integral to the future learning experience, with the majority planning to maintain or increase their use. The format has evolved — becoming more experiential, technology-enhanced, and strategically deployed — but its role in corporate learning is expanding, not contracting.

What percentage of L&D leaders still use face-to-face training?

In the 2025 survey conducted for The Role of Face-to-Face Learning in a GenAI World report, 100% of respondents — all senior L&D professionals — confirmed that face-to-face learning remains an integral part of their organisation's learning strategy. The majority plan to use the same amount or more face-to-face in future programme design.

How has corporate training changed since 2020?

Post-pandemic corporate training has undergone three significant shifts. First, face-to-face sessions have moved from passive, lecture-based formats to interactive, experiential programmes. Second, technology — including AI-powered tools — is now integrated into in-person delivery rather than positioned as a replacement for it. Third, organisations have adopted more strategic, blended approaches that combine digital pre-work, focused in-person sessions, and post-programme reinforcement. The core value of in-person connection has been reinforced, not diminished.

Disclaimer: This article is based on independent research commissioned by Wyboston Venue Management. The views and findings referenced are those of the report's contributors. Contracted training space arrangements, facilities, and services may vary based on individual requirements and availability. Please contact our team directly for pricing, availability, and detailed specifications of our contracted training space solutions.

The Role of Face-to-Face Learning in a GenAI World

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This article is based on an independent report commissioned by Wyboston Venue Management and written by Martin Couzins of Insights Media. Drawing on a survey of 25 senior L&D professionals and interviews with leading practitioners, the report examines why face-to-face learning is growing, how it is evolving, and what it means for the future of corporate training.

Download your copy of the report or speak to Sue Jenkins (Head of Commercial Development) about how a contracted training space at Wyboston Lakes Resort could support your organisation's learning strategy.

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