Fareed Zakaria's technological roller-coaster at Kaplan University's LEF

Kaplan University launched its first Learning Executive Forum at the Harvard Club, New York City, with guest speaker Fareed Zakaria (editor, Newsweek International, and host of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS.) Zakaria provided his perspective on the current economic situation facing the world with an audience of more than 40 Chief Learning Officers and other business executives from several Fortune 500 companies, including representatives from banking, telecom and consumer technology, among others.

“We are in the midst of a technological boom like we’ve never seen before. It’s a roller coaster...you can’t get off,” Zakaria said, citing Twitter as the most recent example of how technology is impacting globalization. Instead, he said “the most powerful thing people can learn is adaption and change. You need to determine how to make that a part of the DNA of your organization so that you can look at problems that will force you to adapt. This is the core that will get us through this crisis and those of the next 30 to 40 years.”

“This series is designed to be different from typical CLO events,” said Jaime Cocuy, Vice President of Kaplan University’s Strategic Alliances Organization, which hosted the event. “At the Kaplan University Learning Executive Forums, executives in charge of training and talent development at their firms will have the opportunity to hear from well-known speakers about the latest issues and trends that impact today’s business leaders. These forums are designed to be informative, but also motivational as CLOs devise strategic initiatives to move their organizations forward in a dynamic and global economy.”