Alex Howland is the founder and CEO of Virbela, a virtual learning platform focused on immersive leadership development. With a PhD in organizational psychology from UC San Diego, Alex began his journey in academia before transitioning into the corporate world to commercialize immersive learning technologies. His work centers on using virtual environments, AI, and behavioral science to help leaders build real-world skills through practice and simulation. Alex has led large-scale global learning initiatives, including virtual leadership programs with thousands of participants, and continues to innovate at the intersection of AI, virtual reality, and talent development.
Nolan Hout, Senior Vice President, Growth & AI Strategist, Infopro Learning
Nolan Hout is the growth leader and host of this podcast. He has over a decade of experience in the Learning & Development (L&D) industry, helping global organizations unlock the potential of their workforce. Nolan is results-driven, investing most of his time in finding ways to identify and improve the performance of learning programs through the lens of return on investment. He is passionate about networking with people in the learning and training community. He is also an avid outdoorsman and fly fisherman, spending most of his free time on rivers across the Pacific Northwest.
How can AI-powered virtual worlds transform leadership development? In this insightful episode, Alex and Nolan discuss how immersive environments and intelligent simulations are reshaping how leaders learn, practice, and grow, bringing real-world complexity into safe, scalable digital experiences.
- How Alex transitioned from academia to building a global virtual learning platform.
- The origin story of Virbela and its $2M university-backed beginnings.
- Why can virtual environments replicate real leadership behaviors effectively.
- The limitations of VR headsets and why web-based 3D is gaining traction.
- How AI enables realistic, unscripted leadership simulations.
- Why “practice reps” are the missing link in leadership development.
- How AI provides real-time behavioral feedback and coaching.
- The role of data and analytics in measuring leadership performance.
- Ethical considerations when using AI in learning and assessment.
Think of the virtual world as the body—and AI as the brain that brings the experience to life.
Founder & CEO, Virbela
Introduction
Nolan: Hello everyone, and welcome to the Talent Equation podcast, formerly known as the Learning and Development podcast. This episode is sponsored by Infopro Learning. As always, I’m your host, Nolan.
Joining me today, we have Dr. Alex Howland, founder and CEO of a cutting-edge piece of technology called Virbela that we will get to. From a deep educational background, Alex transitioned to the corporate world about a decade ago to help launch a product he incubated while at UC San Diego.
It leveraged immersive technology like ARVR and 3D environments to help develop leaders. Today, what we’re going to talk with Alex about is how we leverage tools like ARVR, virtual reality, 3D environments to develop talent, and what happens now that we add this layer of AI on top of this technology. So those questions and many more are in store for us today. Let’s go ahead and meet our guest. Alex, welcome to the podcast.
Alex: Thanks for having me, Nolan. I appreciate it.
Nolan: You’re the CEO and founder of Virbela, but that’s not where you started. I talked a little about your background and not a lot of people spend so much time in education and then transition out to the corporate world. Talk to us about what that story arc was for you.
Alex: I was in San Diego pursuing my PhD in organizational psychology around 2010. I was working on a stats project when an email came in saying write three paragraphs on how to improve graduate management education for a chance to win $50,000. That sounded more interesting than my stats work.
It started with an email I would delete most of the time. I thought I could write three paragraphs on how we can change global leadership development. It was GMAC, the owner of the GMAT exam, putting on the competition. I wrote that we could use virtual worlds as a remote hub where people from different parts of the world could practice leadership skills together, individually through simulations and as a group on multinational teams facing business challenges.
I got second place and $25,000. The next year, GMAC said they had $7 million to invest in those ideas. We partnered with the Rady School of Management at UCSD and secured almost $2 million in grant funds as a graduate student with no software or business experience, but we got started.
Early Experiments & Virtual Worlds
Nolan: What surprised you as you moved from academia into the corporate world?
Alex: We were ahead of our time. This was during the Second Life era. We saw clinicians having success using virtual worlds, treating things like agoraphobia. Therapists would meet people in their virtual house and practice leaving, eventually helping them leave their real house.
We applied that to organizational psychology and leadership development. Under the grant, we created a global competition with 32 MBA students from eight countries on teams of four, competing in a business simulation for 16 hours for $50,000 in prize money.
We saw real behaviors—avatar hugs, people making hidden moves, silence after poor performance, excitement after success. Organizational psychologists said we were getting as much signal as physical assessment centers.
But we couldn’t find a sustainable business model. It was expensive and required many facilitators.
Transition to Corporate & Scaling
Alex: I spun out of the university in 2015 into the private sector. I thought I could raise venture capital easily but learned otherwise. With no money but a product, I started selling.
One of our longest standing customers is the Stanford LEAD program with cohorts of about 300 people from many countries using the platform for a year-long leadership program.
Nolan: Talk to us about how this world has evolved.
Alex: It has been a journey. From virtual worlds on computers to excitement about VR goggles that people still aren’t widely adopting.
We’ve seen movement toward web-based platforms. Previously, you had to download software, but now these technologies can run on the web, improving access. Fidelity is still a challenge because people want high-quality graphics on low-powered devices.
VR Challenges & Practical Use Cases
Nolan: Explain why goggles are still a barrier.
Alex: They add friction. They are expensive, hard to distribute, maintain, and keep clean. Organizations struggle with logistics.
There are use cases where they make sense, but many people prefer 3D environments on screens instead of wearing headsets.
Nolan: We see VR working in controlled environments like welding, electrical work, and engineering training.
Alex: Yes, safety-related scenarios work well. You don’t want real disasters, but simulations help. We worked with a large retailer that didn’t want to shut down machines for training, so VR made sense.
AI + Virtual Worlds
Nolan: How is AI changing this space?
Alex: There is a lot of potential. We are returning to our original vision with AI. People can practice behaviors in a safe place before applying them in real situations.
The virtual world is the body, and AI is the brain. It brings experience to life.
We enable practice for first-time managers handling conflicts, running one-on-ones, navigating ethical dilemmas, and giving feedback.
AI characters take on roles like difficult employees or overconfident team members. The interaction is natural, not scripted.
Practice, Feedback & Data
Nolan: AI removes rigid if-then logic and allows open-ended interaction.
Alex: Yes, we define guardrails but allow flexibility. We create challenging moments where learners struggle, which reflects real life.
AI observes behavior and provides immediate feedback. It can highlight empathy, missed accountability, or communication gaps.
We also capture transcripts, tone, and behaviors to generate assessment reports for individuals and aggregate insights for organizations.
Coaching vs Simulation
Nolan: How is this different from AI coaching tools?
Alex: Many coaching tools are conversational. We start with behavior. The coaching is based on what the learner actually did in the simulation.
That makes feedback more relevant. AI tools can still act as strategic mirrors, but this approach is grounded in experience.
Adoption & ROI
Nolan: Where are you seeing success?
Alex: When it is integrated into existing programs. Theory alone isn’t enough—practice is required. It helps when participation is expected, like going to the gym. People benefit once they engage.
We are also seeing value in digital twins of workplaces. As AI reduces costs, creating realistic environments becomes easier, strengthening learning transfer.
Immersion & Realism
Nolan: What is the value of recreating environments?
Alex: The core is still good simulation design and feedback. But immersion adds value.
People feel present, which increases engagement and realism. This helps transfer skills from training to the real workplace.
Ethics & Risks
Nolan: What ethical considerations exist?
Alex: We must ensure transparency so users know they are interacting with AI. We must address bias, accessibility, and data privacy. Users need to know how their data is used.
Sometimes individuals receive detailed reports while organizations get aggregated insights.
We also manage misuse and ensure simulations stay on track. Some experiences are emotionally intense, so support systems may be needed.
The Future & Virbela
Nolan: Tell us about Virbela.
Alex: We now have a web-based platform called Virbela Go.
We focus on leadership development through practice. Organizations identify key challenges, and we design simulations tailored to those needs.
These start small and expand over time. I reacquired the company because I see strong potential in combining AI with immersive environments.
Closing Thoughts
Nolan: It’s exciting that proof-of-concept is now accessible.
If you’re interested, check out Virbela. We’ll include links.
Thanks for joining us, Alex.
Alex: Thanks, Nolan. This was fun.
