Challenge Factory hosted its first bootcamp to help organizations test what Career Development Centres of Expertise (CDCEs) can look like inside their workforce strategy. The results were clear: leaders are hungry for actionable ways to build internal career systems that keep up with the pace of change.
A growing pressure, and a growing opportunity
Across industries, leaders face the same reality: the workforce is evolving faster than organizational systems can respond, leaving talent stuck and slowing mobility at the exact moment agility matters most.
CDCEs offer a different approach. They treat career development as strategic infrastructure, connecting learning, mobility, leadership, and productivity in ways that respond directly to the drivers reshaping today’s workforce. They help organizations rebuild the internal engines that move talent forward.
The pilot bootcamp gave leaders a chance to explore what this looks like in practice.
The moment the room shifted
Leaders from government, higher education, and financial services arrived with different mandates but shared frustrations: culture, capability, mobility, wellness, leadership.
In one early exercise, participants posted their workforce “dreams and dreads” on the wall. Patterns appeared almost instantly. As one person noted, “Looks like we all brought the same problems in different packaging.”
That shared recognition shaped the day. These challenges aren’t isolated, and neither are the opportunities to address them.
Leaders want tools, not just insight
When we introduced the Broken Talent Escalator®, an organization’s underlying pattern of stalled mobility and misaligned career pathways, the room sharpened. Leaders recognized the symptoms immediately and wanted to understand how to begin repairing them. It underscored why system-level solutions are required and why siloed HR approaches fall short.
From there, the value of practical tools became clear. Our Career Development Maturity MatrixTM, Readiness Checklist, ROI models, and business case templates offered leaders structured ways to assess their starting point, identify quick wins, and build a credible path forward.
“Naming what’s broken was a powerful ‘aha’ moment,” said one participant. “Then having tools to work with right away, that’s what made me feel like we can actually do something about it.”
AI helps leaders think more clearly—when used well
AI played a quiet but influential role in the bootcamp, especially during business case development. Participants used it to test assumptions, explore ROI scenarios, and refine their narratives. The value wasn’t automation. It was clarity.
As one participant said, “I didn’t expect AI to make me think more deeply. But it did.”
Inside future-focused workplaces, this is AI’s real contribution: a thinking partner that speeds understanding without replacing judgment.
What the pilot revealed about employer needs
Four themes stood out:
- Leaders are more ready than they think. There is genuine appetite to pilot and experiment with workforce and career development systems.
- Clarity beats perfection. Organizations don’t need perfect data; they need frameworks that help them take action with what they have.
- Cross-industry learning strengthens insight. Shared challenges make clear that CDCEs are timely and necessary.
- AI will shape workforce strategy. Used responsibly, it improves both the speed and quality of decision-making.
These insights are informing our next round of CDCE tools, supports, and resources.
Why this matters now
Workforce pressures, from demographics to technology to shifting expectations, aren’t easing. Organizations everywhere need talent systems that can adapt.
A CDCE helps leaders:
- Align career development with business strategy
- Build mobility pathways that grow and retain capability at all career stages
- Make more evidence-based workforce decisions
The pilot confirmed that organizations want to lead through workforce change. What they’ve been missing is the scaffolding to start designing the systems they need.
What’s coming next
Over the coming months, we’ll release:
- A practical CDCE Playbook for executives, HR leaders, and talent teams
- Enhanced tools for readiness assessment, ROI modelling, and system design
- A refined, AI-supported bootcamp available for teams and cross-industry groups
- Case studies that show CDCEs in action
This project isn’t about a single workshop. It’s about helping organizations create the workforce systems they need to stay resilient, competitive, and ahead of change. The bootcamp is just the beginning, and last week we learned just how powerful fresh starts can be.
Join us
If strengthening internal mobility, improving retention, or building a more agile workforce is a priority for your organization, now is the time to get involved.
Subscribe for early access to updates and tools.
Register your interest to host or join a 2026 CDCE bootcamp.
Career development isn’t a “nice-to-have.” It’s the backbone of a future-ready organization. Let’s build that future together.
Challenge Factory is a trusted Canadian research and advisory services firm that helps clients achieve productivity gains and positive social impact. We apply best practices from the international field of career development to build human-centric workplaces where people thrive and organizations meet today’s toughest workforce challenges with confidence and clarity. Our clients don’t just compete in challenging labour markets. They lead.