Optimizing and scaling an L&D academy at an internationally recognized institution.

Over three and a half years, my team and I rebuilt the foundation across 77 courses and 1,200+ hours of content. We tightened standards to PTIB (now PTIRU) accreditation, introduced seven weekly KPI metrics for completion and quality, and rebuilt educator onboarding, performance management, and student-of-concern frameworks. A lean team, scaling outcomes without scaling headcount.

The work was driven by two recurring patterns in the quality feedback: content drift, as materials aged out of currency faster than the curriculum could refresh them, and support saturation, as the support system struggled to keep pace with demand. Underneath both, the metrics weren't yet capturing completion with the rigor needed to drive decisions at scale.

• Standards & governanceBuilt the quality governance system, standards, weekly review, and accountability, aligned to PTIB / PTIRU accreditation across all 77 courses and 1,200+ hours.
• MeasurementSeven weekly KPI metrics for completion, support, and quality at scale.
• SystemsEducator onboarding, performance management, learner support, student-of-concern frameworks.

You can't scale what you can't see. I rebuild measurement before I rebuild anything else.

With the foundation holding, we rebuilt the content production engine itself.

We operationalized an AI-augmented scaffolding workflow that cut planning, outlining, assessment drafting, and post-recording synthesis time by 75% or more. AI handled storyboards, course skeletons, exercise and rubric drafts, and transcript summaries. SMEs and educators still owned the development, scripting, recording, and final say. The AI removed the bottleneck, not the authorship.

In parallel, we delivered the largest curriculum overhaul in the institution's portfolio: a full refresh of the flagship 16-month program, the launch of a new 16-month advanced intensive, and the architectural foundations for LMS 2.0, built with Engineering and Product.

The work spanned program and project management, instructional design oversight, change management, and vendor management across academic, engineering, product, and operations stakeholders. None of it solo: the function depended on every direct report and contracted SME holding a shared standard.

• Content scale77 courses, 778 lessons, 1,200+ hours of content under accreditation alignment.
• Curriculum workFull refresh of CG Asset Creation (four specialization paths); launched Houdini for Film or Games (16-month intensive).
• SME network25–28 contracted SMEs concurrently, 100+ sourced and onboarded across tenure.
• LMS partnershipEngineering and Product collaboration on Portal (later Portl), Think Tank's proprietary LMS.

AI is leverage, not authorship. I rebuild production engines so experts can spend their time where it actually matters.

The diagnostic phase had surfaced two root patterns: content drift and support saturation. Both resolved. Content drift cleared through full curriculum refresh and new program launch. Support saturation cleared through operational workflow optimization. Quality complaints dropped sharply.

Under the new measurement framework, on-time completion held at 95%+. The Rookies ranked the institution in the global top 10 across every area of study throughout my tenure.

I left when the work I was hired to do was done. The systems are still running.

The proof of a good operating system isn't how it performs while you're there. It's that it keeps performing after you leave.