Podcast 105: Which Association Learning Tech Trends Matter Most?

EPISODE 105: Association Learning Tech Trends

Liam O’Malley of Momentive Software

Innovation never rests, especially in today’s AI era. That’s one reason why mergers and acquisitions continue to alter the association learning tech landscape. But what really happens on the other side of seismic M&A deals? Today’s guest knows all too well.

Liam O’Malley of Momentive Software represents Path LMS, a learning platform designed for member-based organizations. Momentive recently acquired Path through a series of strategic business transactions. And now, Liam is helping the combined company chart its roadmap.

With more than 20 years as a technology expert at member-based organizations and platform companies, Liam has navigated through 8 acquisition cycles. Impressive.

But how can his unique experience help you build a future-ready association learning tech stack? Find out, as we dig deeper on this episode of the Talented Learning Show…

ASSOCIATION LEARNING TECH TRENDS — KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Mergers and acquisitions are rapidly redefining the learning systems space, and association learning tech is no exception. Despite disruptions that come with M&A activity, multiple industry players are joining forces to help member-based organizations move forward. 

• Adopting new association learning tech is not just about chasing cool tools. It’s about understanding the capabilities organizations need to drive professional development success now and in the future, and providing better access to those capabilities.

• The value of continuing education programs depends heavily on how well complex systems work together and adapt to changing needs. This is why advanced integration tools are a top priority among association learning tech providers.

ASSOCIATION LEARNING TECH TRENDS — Q&A HIGHLIGHTS

Welcome, Liam. Before we dig in, could you briefly tell us how Path LMS became part of Momentive?

Absolutely, John. Previously, Momentive was known as Community Brands. Then in 2024, it was acquired and rebranded as Momentive Software.

One of Community Brands’ biggest challenges was that its many products operated in silos and didn’t work particularly well together. Tech integrations existed, but cohesion among business units was lacking.

That’s why Momentive’s new leadership is bringing all the portfolio pieces together in a unified platform for associations. This integration comes from enhanced technology, ensuring that all our products work better together. It also comes from stronger operational integration across implementation teams, communication services, customer support, and others in the organization who interact with clients.

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I see…

This year, Blue Sky eLearn joined Momentive in February. It was a big change for a 70-person Southern California company with a ton of clients. But our Path LMS is a natural fit with the Momentive portfolio, and the dust has already settled.

We’ve completed all the back-office tech integrations and cultural integrations. And we’ve figured out where we fit into the company’s bigger picture. So now we’re pouring enhanced and expanded resources into our platform to better serve our market.

Great news.

It’s also worth noting that when we came onboard, Momentive already had two other learning platforms: Crowd Wisdom and Freestone. But we’ll be merging those systems into Path LMS.

That means Path will be Momentive’s flagship LMS, going forward. So, there’s a lot of excitement now, with full alignment from a real powerhouse parent company.

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Thanks for clarifying. So, what does Momentive offer in addition to association learning tech?

We help all types of C6 and C3 organizations fund and deliver their missions. That includes associations and membership-based organizations, as well as nonprofits, philanthropic foundations, and donation-based groups.

Beyond association learning tech, Momentive includes front-facing operational systems — career center, volunteer management, fundraising, community, event management — along with tools for all back-office functions. The goal is to be a one-stop shop for everything an association might need to support with technology.

Mmhmm…

That’s why we have 5 AMS/CRM platforms for organizations of any shape or size, along with an MIP financial product, and HR tools.

It’s exciting because these integrated tools are highly plug-and-play. So, with the flip of a switch you can enable all these integrations, for a unified portal with an administrative side and an underlying data hub.

You’re one of the first to pull together all these systems, so people don’t have to buy separate association learning tech tools and tie it all together manually…

Right. But every organization has a different IT philosophy.

We still partner with many other platforms, and we offer over 70 name-brand integrations. So, if you want to use Path LMS but your stack uses other tools, no problem. We play well with your systems, whether they’re part of our Momentive portfolio or not.

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So, what makes association learning tech solutions unique? How do they differ from corporate learning systems?

Building on my points about integrations, familiarity with the ecosystem is essential for any association learning tech provider.

Do you understand the organization’s mission, processes, and business rules? Do you know what members really want? What do member benefits look like? How can you support members as well as non-members?

This isn’t just about technology. It’s about relationships, as well. Any LMS vendor will say, “Sure. We’ve got APIs. We can integrate with whatever is in your association learning tech stack.”

But if they don’t have the relationships, making it happen will be tough.

Right.

Most technologies are not as simple as plug-and-play. If they are, it’s something like SSO.

Sure, it may be able to let people log-in through another platform. But that’s not financial integration. It’s not about writing data back and forth. It’s not about depth of integration with other platforms that a true association learning tech provider knows is an organization’s bread and butter.

The question is, can they plug-in and fit-in with everything else? I encourage associations to dig-in and closely evaluate what they’re being told about integrations.

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Good idea…

In addition, reporting and the data that gets surfaced from other platforms often isn’t what an association needs.

For instance, I recently talked with someone who is working with reporting on a top-of-the-line corporate LMS category leader. But they can’t get member versus non-member reports out of their commerce or activity completions. And this is 2025.

Sometimes, very basic, fundamental association insights just aren’t there. Or they’re assumed to be there — which is potentially dangerous.

No doubt.

Also, continuing education and accreditation have some UI nuances. HR platforms certainly have their own compliance rules. But they won’t have ACCME or CLE accreditation requirements as part of the programmatic structure that an association-focused LMS usually embeds quite easily.

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Your point about relationships and understanding the unique challenges associations face is crucial, especially now, when there’s serious pressure from for-profit training companies.

Yes. I can’t underscore enough the need for strong vendor relationships.

It may sound a little fluffy. But let’s say you’ve got a go-live date for a project that includes live courses, and you need immediate integration answers.

Does your implementation team know who to contact and how to reach that person? Or do they have to submit a support ticket that may be addressed in a month? There’s a huge difference.

You haven’t yet mentioned AI. Is that a hot association learning tech trend? How does it fit into Path LMS or the broader Momentive solution?

AI is everywhere. People want it to be a magic wand. It’s not. But it is absolutely important.

Interestingly, two years ago, everyone was talking about governance policy — how to implement and work with AI. Some folks have figured it out and some haven’t. But people are experimenting anyway. They’re moving forward.

Celebrate the best in learning tech innovation! See our latest annual LMS Award recipients, featuring the top 10 solutions in 6 categories. SEE ALL THE WINNERS →

True…

Since about 2022, Path LMS has included some generative AI capabilities. An assessment question builder, content editors, auto-descriptions, things like that. At this point, those tools seem like table stakes.

But next, we’ll be incorporating things like unstructured learning paths and recommendations, and letting learners own the results data from the learning paths they create.

And even further in the future, with the Momentive data hub I mentioned, organizations will be able to plug those results into their volunteer management or career center solutions, so members have ownership of that with AI driving it.

That tool will also include some built-in agents. We’ll see recommendation agents, not just for learning, but across the board. Chat agents, automation agents, and prediction agents for your data that will live at the data hub layer. That will be part of Path LMS and any function plugged into the Momentive platform you’re licensing.

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Sounds exciting…

It is. But lately, I feel a little jaded about AI. Here’s one reason why.

Recently, I obtained the Sidecar AAIP (Association AI Professional) certification. All the content is created with AI. But the first session doesn’t include any upfront explanation. So, I was a little put off because an AI avatar was clearly teaching the lesson.

Fortunately, at the start of other sessions, the avatar explained it was built with AI and so forth. So, after expectations were set, the AI was less distracting. Still, I’m concerned about my reaction.

It’s one thing to figure out how AI fits into association learning tech from a functional standpoint. But it’s probably more important to think about how it fits into instructional content, itself.

After all, associations need to maintain their reputation as experts in their respective industries. But if they don’t effectively apply AI tools, it could potentially damage their brand, and put the value of their learning programs and credentials at risk.

Good point. And on a related note: No organization can afford to publish AI-generated content that hasn’t been carefully reviewed.

Yes, absolutely.

What other member education trends should we keep in mind? …

… For complete answers to this and more questions about key association learning tech trends, listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, on Amazon, or right here on our site.

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