AI steps up as meeting facilitator, could this change workplace learning?
AI meeting tools are beginning to move beyond administrative support into active facilitation. Rather than just transcribing or summarising, some platforms are experimenting with guiding activities, shaping group dynamics and even injecting energy in real time.
One such example is Funmentum Labs’ newly launched platform, Funware, which positions itself as a live meeting facilitator.
While Funware, is designed for workplace meetings, the challenges it tackles: low energy, repetitive formats, uneven participation, echoes challenges learning professionals often face in virtual classrooms, onboarding sessions or hybrid training. This raises an intriguing question: could AI-powered facilitation have crossover potential in L&D?
If adapted for learning contexts, platforms like this could complement human facilitators by managing pacing, maintaining energy and encouraging group interaction at scale.
For L&D leaders, the parallels are worth exploring: the same barriers that flatten workplace meetings often undermine virtual classrooms and webinars. Platforms like this could in future support interactive workshops, onboarding programmes and live online courses, applying facilitation techniques at scale without heavy prep time.
The innovation here is subtle but important. Until now, AI has been seen mainly as a content delivery tool, leaving trainers to manage the flow and connection. Platforms like Funware reverse this. They take on some of the energy and coordination, leaving the trainer to decide how best to apply their expertise. In time, such tools could even tailor activities dynamically to group size, learning goals or participant engagement levels. And it could offer a way of providing facilitation where human resources are stretched.
The shift, however, invites caution. Over-reliance on AI risks diluting the human judgement, empathy and cultural awareness that experienced facilitators have. L&D teams will need to weigh up where AI adds value, where human-led delivery remains essential and how the two can best complement each other.
Funware’s approach could mark the start of a new category in learning technology, where AI actively shapes the tone, flow and collaborative impact of both meetings and learning experiences.
Market comparison: AI in meeting facilitation
AI is becoming a regular meeting participant. Tools such as Otter.ai, Fireflies and Microsoft Copilot in Teams already summarise discussions and suggest actions, but in most cases they still play a supporting role. We took a look at several applications in this market and charted their level of facilitation involvement against market adoption to offer an indication of where various apps fit in this space:
