National Career Development Month: Insights from Dennis Drees and Ralph Zerbonia

November is National Career Development Month, a time to reflect on growth, learning and the skills that shape our careers. At Cengage Group, career development isn’t just about formal training; it’s about curiosity, adaptability and embracing technologies that transform how we work.

Lauren Gogolak, Senior Director of Talent & Inclusion, shared, “At Cengage Group, we’re committed to providing rewarding careers and giving employees the tools and support they need to grow. From hands-on experimentation to formal learning opportunities, we’re focused on helping every team member build the skills that will shape the future of work.”

One team leading this charge is Global Operations. Morgan Wolbe, EVP of Global Operations and Chief Transformation Officer, shared, “Operations is all about value for effort, and great operations people are always looking to improve that equation. Technologies like AI allow us to spend more time on work that grows our skills and effectiveness.”

When it comes to AI adoption, Morgan believes that leveraging widely available tools can make us all more productive. However, he believes AI adoption works best with focus. “Significant benefits in effectiveness and efficiency come from applying this technology to specific functional areas or process automation. Be clear about the problem you’re trying to solve.”

For leaders looking to foster a culture of curiosity and experimentation with technologies like AI, Morgan says, “Take a two-pronged approach: everyone should know the basics, and a few people at a time should be on the hook for delivering specific, large benefits.”

The Q&A below spotlights two members of the Global Operations team—Dennis Drees, Senior Director of Customer Technical Support and Ralph Zerbonia, Director of Global Content Transformation —who have been experimenting with AI to improve workflows and enhance customer experiences.

Q1: How has working with AI tools contributed to your professional development this year?

Dennis: Working with AI tools has expanded my technical and strategic understanding of how these systems can improve large-scale support operations. It’s given me hands-on experience in evaluating where AI can make a measurable difference in efficiency and quality, and where human expertise remains essential. That practical exposure has been valuable in helping me guide my team through ongoing changes in our tools and workflows.

Ralph: One of my development goals this year was to learn more about AI. While I took some Workday courses early in the fiscal year, it wasn’t until I started working on an actual AI tool that the terminology—and the reality of what AI can and can’t do—really came into focus. By helping the technology team think about what makes content “quality” and refining the prompts the tool needed to create that content, I gained a clearer view of both the limits of current AI tools and the possibilities they offer for improving content creation and curation.

Q2: How have you used AI to improve your workflows or our products?

Dennis: A major initiative was our phased rollout of Salesforce’s Agentforce AI within the CTSS organization. We implemented features like case and transcript summarization and internal knowledge retrieval, streamlining information access for agents. This culminated in the launch of a customer-facing Agentforce bot in August.

Beyond that, I use tools like Copilot and ChatGPT daily to organize complex ideas into clear communications and analyze data sets more efficiently.

Ralph: I’ve worked on an internal AI tool that transforms narrative content and learning objectives into instructor guides and test banks. These resources help instructors teach effectively and provide students with alternative assessments for practice and summative tests.

This tool dramatically reduces time to market (from weeks to days) while cutting costs and shifting human effort from content creation to ensuring content viability. It also eliminates steps like copyediting and specification checks, streamlining workflows and improving efficiency.

Q3: What’s helped you most in adapting to the rapid changes AI has brought to your work?

Dennis: Taking a practical, use-case-driven approach has been key. Rather than trying to adopt every new capability, I focus on understanding specific problems and evaluating whether AI adds real value. Collaboration with our internal technology teams and staying informed about new features has also helped me keep pace with the rapid evolution of these tools.

Ralph: In the past, my work has always been about finding tools that remove friction in content creation and curation. AI is becoming a powerful tool in that arsenal. What’s helped me most is shifting from simply replicating what we do today to imagining how AI can take us to the next level.

These tools make it easier for any adept user to create content, so the challenge is evolving. By leveraging the massive data lake or content repository that Cengage has amassed over the years, we can deliver unique, high-value materials that generic AI can’t. For me, adapting means thinking about how AI can help us serve content in new ways, assist authors in meaningful updates, and personalize learning experiences for customers. That mindset of seeing AI as a catalyst for innovation rather than just efficiency has been key.

Q4: How do you see your experience with AI shaping your career path moving forward?

Dennis: My experience with AI has reinforced the importance of integrating technology strategy into operational leadership. I expect AI to keep influencing how we deliver customer support, particularly in the areas of efficiency, data use, and self-service. Going forward, I plan to continue exploring how automation and AI can be responsibly leveraged to enhance both agent and customer experiences.

Ralph: Cengage Group is at somewhat of a turning point where we are moving beyond simply digitizing content to really revitalizing the digital experience. I’m fortunate that my role allows me to investigate AI tools for content creation and workflow optimization while applying them to real processes.

Looking ahead, I want everyone in my organization exposed to AI initiatives so they can bring this lens to problem-solving from internal content challenges to next-generation digital experiences that elevate Cengage Group’s products. Whatever role I hold within Cengage Group, I want to ensure it is one where we can leverage AI to reduce manual work and accelerate the creation of scalable, high-quality content.

Q5: Has learning to use AI tools boosted your confidence in tackling other challenges or emerging technologies?

Dennis: Yes. Working directly with AI tools has made me more comfortable evaluating and implementing new technologies overall. The pace of change will only accelerate, so gaining experience with AI now helps me approach future innovations with confidence and a clear, business-focused perspective.

Ralph: I’ve always been an early adopter of technology (for better or worse), but working with AI has boosted my confidence, specifically because it’s no longer mysterious. Seeing how AI works and how inputs shape outputs have demystified the process.

We often struggle to trust what we don’t understand, and there are plenty of loud voices both for and against AI. But looking under the hood—defining prompts, understanding inputs, and watching the tool create something new—showed me it’s not a “magic black box.” It’s a powerful set of commands that processes data quickly and makes connections traditional tools couldn’t. That transparency has raised my trust level and makes me excited to use AI for future improvements across the board.