Last week, I was privileged to visit Absorb Software’s beautiful headquarters in Calgary, Canada. The attention to detail in their office design, with each floor customized to match their logo colors and branding, truly showcases their innovative and creative spirit.
Inspiring Leadership
CEO Kimberly Williams has cultivated an environment that fosters success by aligning and hiring like-minded individuals. Her track record of success, including her previous role at CST Holdings, where she led the company from fifth to first in its market, speaks volumes about her capabilities. During our visit, we collaborated on a video podcast where we chatted about strategic learning systems that I’m excited to share, as it offers invaluable insights into her authentic leadership style.
Innovative Technology
Meeting with the executive team, including Obaidur Rashid (CTO), Craig Basford (EVP Product), Saravana Sivanandham (CMO), and Vanessa Ogibowski (Head of Product Marketing), provided a comprehensive overview of Absorb’s technology and client-centric approach to development. Their focus on performance, scalability, quality and responsiveness demonstrates a genuine commitment to excellence.
Key takeaways from the product demo include:
An AI-powered reporting layer that sits on top of their platform, featuring:
- Natural language processing for simple queries.
- Trend analysis and forecasting capabilities.
- eCommerce and user data integration.
- Customizable reports with flexible role-based access.
- The ability to analyze data directly to provide customers with direct access to their LMS data within their own BI tools.
- AI-powered course creation from various content types (PDF, texts, prompts).
- Content and design separation for flexibility.
- Voice-over generation with AI.
- A full-fledged authoring tool with review functionality to ensure quality and mitigate AI hallucinations.
- Self-assessment tools for learners.
- Personalized job role identification and AI-powered career development paths.
- Upcoming features include manager assessment and peer assessment.
- Includes 1,500+ job roles, 10K+ skills, 200+ competencies and 20K+ course content library.
Culture and Environment
Absorb Software believes in creating a culture that balances hard, critical work with fun. They exemplified this by taking us to Banff, where we conducted strategic planning against the backdrop of the breathtaking Canadian Rockies. This experience set a new standard for productive and inspiring business meetings.
Conclusion
Absorb’s combination of innovative technology, client-focused development, strategic leadership, and a passionate team sets it apart in the industry. It is a company to watch in the learning management and educational technology space.
