Today’s learning landscape is transforming rapidly, with people absorbing knowledge in countless and ever-evolving ways. Yet, despite all the available resources—books, workshops, webinars, coaching, and experiences, just to name a few—one challenge remains: the all-too-frequent “knowing-doing gap.” As we all know too well—as L&D professionals and individual learners—it’s one thing to understand concepts intellectually, but it’s another to put them into practice confidently.

This knowing-doing gap is especially prominent in the work I do with leaders around facilitating effective career development conversations. Many know what they “should do”—engage their employees, ask insightful questions, guide their growth—but translating that intention into action isn’t always easy.

Enter the bot or custom GPT, an invaluable artificial intelligence (AI)-based tool that’s uniquely suited to help turn knowledge into practical, confident career development practices.

The Value of AI Bots in Learning

AI-supported tools are quickly becoming a game changer in learning and development, offering a range of important benefits.

Application – AI bots bridge the knowing-doing gap by allowing learners to transform theoretical knowledge into actionable steps. Leaders aren’t left to figure out how to implement what they’ve learned; the bot guides them through the process.

Personalization – AI bots respond to the unique needs and challenges of the user. For a leader preparing for a career conversation, this means receiving tailored questions and advice based on the specific employee situation, rather than generic, one-size-fits-all advice.

Confidence – Confidence is often the missing link between knowing what to do and actually doing it. AI bots provide a safe, nonjudgmental space for leaders to practice conversations and receive feedback. It’s a space to work out the kinks before performing new skills with real employees.

Inclusion – Many leaders—particularly introverts—prefer to think through conversations and plan their approach before taking action. AI bots offer the perfect environment for these reflective learners to rehearse scenarios without the pressure of real-time interactions. In this way, it makes learning more inclusive.

Reinforcement – Learning doesn’t stop after one session or a single reading of a book. AI bots allow leaders to routinely revisit their skills and conversations, making continuous development accessible anytime and anywhere.

These benefits have enormous implications for L&D professionals committed to helping learners apply new skills and improve their performance … as I discovered by developing a bot of our own.

A Case in Point

During the writing of the third edition of Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go, I began considering how AI might play a role in bridging the “reading-doing gap.” The ideas in the book are simple, but they only work if put into practice. I wondered what additional value could be provided that would make that translation of knowledge to action easy. And so, the Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go book-bot was born as a way to extend the reading experience into supporting planning and practice of the career conversations organizations need and employees desperately want.

After training the book-bot with the appropriate materials, we interviewed leaders and identified the specific support they needed. It boiled down to helping prepare for career conversations, practicing those conversations realistically, evaluating their effectiveness, and brainstorming development activities and experiences.

So, instructions were given to the book-bot to play a Socratic role and guide readers to develop a full understanding of the employee’s situations with questions like: What are their goals? What strengths have you observed? Where might they need to grow? This provides the context that allows the book-bot to draft a conversation roadmap filled with powerful, customized questions.

But the book-bot doesn’t stop there. Once the conversation plan is in place, readers can rehearse the conversation with the bot taking on the role of the employee. This simulation allows leaders to test different approaches, adapt their style, and see what works and what doesn’t. At the end of the practice, the bot provides feedback—constructive insights that help readers improve and refine their approach before going live with real employees.

Beyond Career Development: Broader Implications for Learning

While this particular book-bot is based upon Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go and tailored for career development conversations, the underlying principles apply more broadly to nearly any learning and development focus. AI tools like this one offer a structured, interactive, and reflective experience that deepens anyone’s ability to act on what they’ve learned. And they address the challenges that keep L&D professionals up at night:

Budget – The cost of a custom GPT is nothing more than a monthly subscription to OpenAI.

Scalability – Whereas offering meaningful coaching and follow-up with learners is tremendously labor intensive, a bot is immediately available to the masses.

Tailoring – AI tools offer the just-in-time, just-for-me learning, support, and feedback today’s employees demand.

Finally, a Tool to Bridge the Knowing-Doing Gap

AI offers the solution we’ve been seeking for decades when it comes to the problem of the “knowing-doing gap.” It offers new ways for learners to build confidence and competence around skill-building at a time when building new skills has never been more important. And it offers those in L&D a cost-effective way to drive the kind of adoption and application required to support organizational learning and results.

So maybe it’s time to expand our understanding of AI to include its ability to facilitate applied intelligence, (another AI) as it transforms knowledge into real results for today’s learners.