DDI Launches CoLab Studio to Help Organizations Deliver Personalized Leadership Development At Scale

Introduced at ATD26, CoLab Studio within LeaderLab combines AI-powered speed with DDI's trusted leadership science

PITTSBURGH, May 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- DDI, a global, award-winning leadership company, today announced CoLab Studio within LeaderLab, a new AI-enabled capability that helps organizations create personalized leadership development faster and at greater scale. Introduced at the ATD 2026 International Conference & Exposition, CoLab Studio enables HR and L&D teams to tailor leadership development to specific roles, business priorities, and time constraints without rebuilding programs from scratch.

Built on DDI's proprietary research, scientifically proven leadership frameworks, and decades of expertise in behavior change, CoLab Studio enables organizations to create personalized, instructionally sound leadership development experiences faster and with less manual effort. Organizations can tailor DDI's content library to their unique business context by incorporating leadership profiles, organizational priorities, branding, and internal language, then use guided prompts to streamline, combine, adapt, or contextualize content for different audiences—all while maintaining the integrity of DDI's proven leadership science. Early release with select organizations begins in June, with broader availability planned later this year.

Organizations can explore these capabilities further during DDI's upcoming webinar, Leadership Development at the Speed of Business, on June 10.

"Leadership development only changes behavior when leaders see themselves in it," said Verity Creedy, Chief Product Officer at DDI. "For too long, organizations have had to choose between scalable leadership development and experiences that feel truly relevant to their business. CoLab Studio changes that. It enables organizations to rapidly personalize scientifically proven DDI leadership content to their culture, roles, priorities, and real-world challenges—creating learning experiences that feel less generic and far more actionable, engaging, and human."

DDI LeaderLab^SM: Personalized Leadership Development Built for Scale

CoLab Studio is an AI-powered personalization agent within DDI LeaderLab℠, DDI's leadership development platform built to accelerate leadership growth.

LeaderLab helps organizations move beyond one-size-fits-all development by adapting learning to each leader's role, level, priorities, and business context. For HR and L&D teams, LeaderLab simplifies personalization and program curation using DDI's proven assessment and development content.

Leaders engage with personalized learning paths in LeaderLab, including assigned learning and automated recommendations aligned to the challenges they face every day. They also access an AI Leadership Chatbot for real-time guidance in the moments they need it most.

Every AI-enabled experience is grounded in DDI's validated research and expertise, not generic internet data, so organizations can trust that every output is built on decades of real-world impact.

Performance Accelerator for Frontline Leaders

DDI also announced expanded frontline leadership capabilities within LeaderLab with Performance Accelerator, built for industrial and manufacturing environments.

Using AI-powered leadership simulations, supervisors can practice realistic workplace conversations and decisions in focused 30-minute sessions designed to fit shift-based work. They can generate scenarios to reflect their unique operational pressures, creating more relevant practice experiences while reinforcing consistent skills.

Built-in measurement capabilities help organizations track skill adoption and operational impact beyond participation metrics alone.

Building Leadership Development for the Speed of Business

Across these solutions, a clear philosophy emerges: leadership development should match the pace and realities of modern work without sacrificing rigor or relevance.

DDI is continuing to expand how organizations personalize leadership development at scale, helping HR and L&D teams adapt faster without rebuilding everything from the ground up.

"What we hear consistently from organizations is that leadership development must keep pace with the realities of their business," said Tacy M. Byham, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of DDI. "Organizations are looking for development experiences that align with their culture, business priorities, and unique leadership challenges. We believe AI can help scale that level of personalization—but only when it is grounded in leadership science and intentionally designed to drive behavior change and business impact. That belief continues to shape the evolution of LeaderLab and innovations like CoLab Studio."

About DDI
DDI is the global leadership company that helps organizations build the leaders they need today and prepare for tomorrow. For over 55 years, we've helped organizations hire, develop, and promote exceptional leaders. Across all levels from emerging leaders to C-suite executives, we deliver integrated assessment and development solutions, leveraging data to guide talent decisions and accelerate leadership growth. This Continuous Leadership Intelligence approach enables organizations to anticipate leadership needs before they become urgent and build the precise capabilities their business strategies demand. Grounded in behavioral science, DDI helps the world's leading organizations achieve lasting success through better leadership. Learn more at ddi.com.

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SOURCE DDI