Undervalued & Overlooked? AI-Powered Communities Help Reclaim Visibility

By Iuliia Algasova

Imagine having a wealth of knowledge and innovation inside your organization, but it’s hidden, siloed, or simply goes unnoticed. In talent development, you most probably work with incredible people from diverse backgrounds: former teachers, entrepreneurs, researchers, and technologists. Many of them push boundaries daily, experiment, and invent things. They have true and tested practices, inspiring stories, and powerful insights we all wish more people knew about.

Instead, what we often get is duplication. Silos. Teams reinventing the wheel. Everyone celebrating small wins in isolation while collective progress stalls. It’s not that people don’t want to share; they do. But when visibility is scarce, and recognition is low, motivation decreases. And in a tough economy, that sense of being seen and valued? It’s becoming more critical than ever.

Now imagine what could happen if we flipped the script. If people had a space to share what they do best. To be recognized. To learn from each other, contribute regularly, and grow together. The good thing is: that space exists. And it’s called a learning community.

And now, building one doesn’t have to be time-consuming or resource-heavy because AI just made it a lot easier. AI tools like ChatGPT, Notion AI, and Otter.ai are transforming how we create and manage learning communities, turning them into hubs of continuous growth, engagement, and visibility. It’s time we talked about AI-powered learning communities and how to build them.

The challenge trifecta

AI-powered learning communities tackle what we call the challenge trifecta: upskilling, engagement, and visibility. These issues aren’t unique to any organization; they’re widespread and well-documented.

According to LinkedIn Learning, 74% of people feel they aren’t achieving their full potential due to a lack of development opportunities. People want to grow but often don’t know how or don’t feel they have the platform to do so.

At the same time, 78% of employees are not engaged or are actively disengaged at work, resulting in nearly $9.6 trillion in lost productivity worldwide, according to Gallup.  Meanwhile, visibility remains a hidden hurdle. A JobVite report found that 60% of recruiters cite a lack of candidate visibility as a major challenge, and professionals who are more visible in their workplaces are 1.5 times more likely to be considered for leadership roles.

These statistics paint a clear picture: people are hungry to develop, want to feel connected, and need recognition.

Why learning communities are the answer

Learning communities create dedicated spaces for knowledge exchange, recognition, and collaboration, breaking down silos and boosting cross-team interactions. This naturally enhances engagement and visibility, motivating employees to contribute actively and consistently.

In practice, these communities might take various forms:

• Internal digital spaces: platforms hosting articles, webinars, success stories, and discussions. It can be as simple as creating a Microsoft Teams space and customizing it with dedicated channels, posting guidelines, and regular updates. It could also be a SharePoint hub, a company wiki, or even a full-fledged internal website. For those ready to scale, you might even build a standalone platform and eventually open it up to external collaborators.
• Hybrid communities: blending digital and physical interactions to cater to diverse preferences. For example, you might host monthly in-person meetups or lunch-and-learns that are also streamed live or recorded for remote members. Pair that with a digital thread for follow-up discussions, polls, and resource sharing, and you’ve got an inclusive, multiformat experience.
• Professional networks: intercompany collaborations to share industry insights, innovation, and best practices. Think of joint webinars, coauthored content, or Slack channels where professionals from different companies brainstorm together. These can be started through partnerships, shared initiatives, or platforms where many such organic communities flourish.

Getting started: Building your community

Ready to build a learning community of your own? Here’s a practical step-by-step guide to get started:

1. Assemble a champion team: Gather motivated, passionate individuals who will help shape and promote the community.
2. Define specific problems: Clarify what the community will address: Is it skill sharing? Engagement? Cross-team collaboration?
3.  Identify your target audience: Understand who the community is for, what they care about, and how they prefer to engage.
4. Highlight clear benefits: Why should people join? Communicate what’s in it for them from the start.
5. Plan consistent activities: Start small with monthly webinars, curated posts, or topic discussions. Consistency builds trust.
6. Assign a community facilitator: This person keeps the energy alive, moderates discussion, and nudges participation.
7. Design a visual identity: Create a logo, set of visuals, or even templates to give your community a cohesive feel.
8. Promote strategically: Use your internal channels—emails, team calls, newsletters—to drive launch excitement and keep momentum.
9. Celebrate early successes: Showcase early wins and contributors to encourage more people to join and participate.

 Amplifying communities with AI

Once the foundation is set, AI can take your community to the next level. Here’s how:

• Content repurposing: AI tools like ChatGPT automatically transform webinars, discussions, and events into articles, podcasts, or summaries. You’d still need to tweak the end result, but LLMs will save you loads of time, significantly broaden content reach, and boost participation.
• Content curation: Instead of spending hours searching for relevant resources, use AI tools such as Notion AI to effortlessly compile high-quality materials your community will actually care about. You can quickly compile themed digests or monthly reading lists that feel thoughtful but take minutes to create.
• Automated moderation and facilitation: AI assistants can help keep your space safe and civil by flagging inappropriate comments, auto-responding to basic questions, or helping prioritize questions during live events. Especially useful when your community grows and things get busy.
• Language translation for inclusivity: Hosting a global community? AI-driven tools can translate posts, comments, or even live speech – removing language as a barrier and making it easier for everyone to contribute.
• Virtual assistants for enhanced user experience: Think of them as your community’s friendly concierge. AI tools like Otter.ai  can answer FAQs, recommend relevant discussions, or point members to learning paths—especially helpful for newcomers.
• Smart notification systems: AI can learn your members’ behavior and send them tailored, timely nudges about events, posts, or replies—helping them stay engaged without feeling overwhelmed.

Real-world impact: A case study

Let me wrap this up with a quick real-life story from our own experience.

At EPAM, we created a community called Global Campus in late 2022. Our goals were simple: make our learning team’s talent and accomplishments more visible, keep people connected and engaged, and offer meaningful upskilling opportunities. Within the first year, the community attracted around 700 members across different teams and regions.

We ran monthly webinars, shared internal articles, curated helpful resources, and even started several new event formats. Thanks to AI, we were able to turn our video content into articles and digests and keep things running smoothly without burning out our small core team.

It paid off. We improved our internal efficiency and saw increased employee engagement and satisfaction, which grew 15% year over year. Most importantly, we created a space where people felt seen, heard, and connected – something you can’t always measure, but you can definitely feel.

So if you’ve ever felt like your organization is sitting on a gold mine of knowledge that no one gets to see—or if you’ve wished your colleagues had more opportunities to grow, connect, and be recognized—learning communities might just be your answer. And with AI in the mix, building and sustaining those communities is more achievable than ever.

Start small. Be consistent. Let people shine. And don’t be afraid to experiment along the way. You’ll be surprised how quickly a few shared stories and thoughtful conversations can become meaningful.

Explore AI at the Learning Leadership Conference

Don’t miss Iuliia Algasova’s session at the Learning Leadership Conference, AI Agents in Practice: From Potential to Impact—and dozens more sessions addressing strategic implementation of AI, use of data, and alignment between L&D and key organizational goals. The Learning Leadership Conference is October 1-3 in Orlando Florida. See you there! 

Image credit: miniseries