Customer education is changing fast. Customers expect individualized, contextual experiences, while businesses need to scale efficiently and move customers closer to value.

That’s why we’re introducing AI Wave—a new series of product launches designed to guide every customer to the right answer, the right next step, in the right moment.

In this product release webinar, we’ll show what’s available now with Omnichannel and Conversational AI Learning, along with a preview of our Q2 roadmap.

Your academy remains the trusted foundation. AI Wave extends that content into the moments where customers already look for help—across search, AI tools, product experiences, social channels, and learning environments.

See how AI Wave helps customers find trusted answers faster, take the next step, and turn every interaction into signals to improve what happens next.

What we’ll cover

• Omnichannel Learning: Extend trusted content into the places customers already look for answers

• Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): Make content structured, verified, and discoverable by AI answer engines

• Conversational AI Learning: Enable natural-language questions, instant answers, and next steps—including early agentic actions like course discovery and enrollment

• Q2 roadmap preview: What’s next in more intelligent, personalized, and omnichannel learning experiences

Speakers

• Irana Wasti, CEO, Thought Industries

• Sarah Phoenix CPO, Thought Industries

• Philip Cahill VP of Customer Experience, Thought Industries

Or, is the only way to create an API call from somewhere like AWS and then send the custom fields back to TI? It seems silly to have to go out then back in when the data should be right there to work with. It also introduces more security risk as we'd need to protect our API key, whereas it's already protected in TI.

Once I figure this out, then I want to see if I can track progress through the SCORM courses to see how much those are being completed. I don't even know if that is possible, so I'm all ears for better ways of tracking.

Thanks!

We’re currently reviewing our approach to backing up courses in Thought Industries and wanted to learn from others in the community. A little backstory, in addition to TI, our department also builds in Canvas, which supports an export of the entire course via .zip.

Since TI doesn’t appear to offer a true “full course export/backup” capability (beyond things like copying courses within the platform (sandbox) or managing files in the resource library), we’re curious how other organizations are handling this.

Any insights, tools, or best practices would be really helpful—especially for teams managing large course catalogs.

Thanks in advance!

Want to personalize what your learners see from their very first login? By combining an onboarding survey with learner reference fields and auto-assignment rules, you can collect learner-driven data the moment they arrive and immediately serve them content that matches their role, skill level, or preferences. This play walks you through how to build the survey, connect it to auto-assignment rules, and understand what happens when you need to update it later.

Office Hours Link

Requirement Overview

If any of these requirements fit your end goal, this may be the play for you.

• Requirement 1: You want to collect information from learners (role, experience level, preferences, etc.) the first time they access your platform - regardless of how they sign in (SSO, native registration, or e-commerce purchase).

• Requirement 2: You want to use learner responses to automatically assign relevant content so their dashboard is personalized from the first click.

• Requirement 3: You want learners to be able to update their own responses over time, and have their content adjust accordingly.

• Requirement 4: You want to review response data to identify trends and inform your content strategy.

Functional Areas to be Used

• Onboarding Survey

• Learner Reference Fields

• Auto-Assignment Rules

• Onboarding Responses Log (Reporting)

• Panorama (optional - for differentiated surveys by client)

Core Functionality Configurations

1. Plan Your Survey Before You Build It

Description: Before creating any questions, map out how each survey response will connect to a learner reference field and what content each response should trigger. This upfront planning prevents rework later since auto-assignment rule conditions cannot be changed after creation.

Configuration:

1. Decide what data you want to collect from learners (e.g., experience level, role, content format preference).

2. For each question, identify which learner reference field it will map to. Each question must map to its own unique learner reference field - you cannot map multiple questions to the same field.

3. Define the exact response options for each question. Write these down - you will need to match them exactly when building auto-assignment rules.

4. Determine what content each response (or combination of responses) should trigger. For example: a learner who selects "Beginner" and "Videos" should receive a specific introductory video course.

5. Consider whether you need one global onboarding survey for all learners or differentiated surveys by Panorama. A global survey applies to all learners unless a Panorama-specific survey has been set up.

Risk and Mitigation Strategy:

• If you skip the planning step and build questions ad hoc, you may run out of learner reference fields or create mismatches between responses and auto-assignment rules. Document your mapping in a spreadsheet before touching the platform.

• You are limited to 10 learner reference fields. Account for other uses of these fields (Salesforce sync, bulk imports, custom learner fields) before allocating them to the onboarding survey.

2. Build the Onboarding Survey

Description: Create survey questions using dropdown list question types and connect each question to a learner reference field. Dropdown lists ensure learners select exactly one value per question, which creates the clean one-to-one match needed for auto-assignment rules.

Configuration:

1. Navigate to Users → Registration → Onboarding Survey. If you have never created a survey, this page will be blank. No feature flag or support ticket is needed to access it.

2. Click to add a new question. Enter your question text (e.g., "How would you describe your experience level?").

3. Select Dropdown List as the question type. This forces learners to choose one answer, which is required for auto-assignment rules to work reliably.

4. Add your predefined response options (e.g., "Beginner," "Intermediate," "Advanced").

5. Mark the question as Required if every learner must answer it.

6. Under the Learner Reference setting, map this question to a learner reference field (e.g., Learner Reference 1). Each subsequent question must map to a different learner reference field.

7. Repeat for each question. Note that once a learner reference field is assigned to a question, it will no longer appear in the dropdown for other questions.

Risk and Mitigation Strategy:

• Use only dropdown list question types if you plan to connect responses to auto-assignment rules. Free-text fields and multi-select options do not create the one-to-one value match that auto-assignment requires.

• The response values you enter here must be matched exactly in your auto-assignment rules. Copy and paste them rather than retyping to avoid mismatches caused by spacing or capitalization differences.

3. Set Up Auto-Assignment Rules Based on Survey Responses

Description: Create auto-assignment rules that assign specific content to learners based on the learner reference field values populated by their onboarding survey answers. This is the mechanism that translates survey responses into a personalized dashboard experience.

Configuration:

1. Navigate to Users → Auto-Assignment.

2. Click to create a new rule. Name it descriptively (e.g., "Beginner — Assign Intro Video").

3. Select the content you want to assign (courses, learning paths, etc.). You can select multiple content items per rule.

4. Click Next to set conditions. Choose "When learner user ref value" and select the learner reference field that corresponds to your survey question (e.g., User Ref 1).

5. Set the operator to "is equal to" and paste the exact response value from your survey (e.g., "Beginner").

6. To create more targeted rules, add multiple conditions. For example: User Ref 1 equals "Beginner" AND User Ref 3 equals "Quick step-by-step recipe videos." Select "All conditions must be met" if using multiple conditions.

7. On the next screen, decide whether to backfill existing learners who already match the condition or apply the rule only to future learners.

8. Consider enabling "Automatically unassign learners who no longer meet the condition." This is important because learners can edit their onboarding survey responses - if they change their answer, the unassign option ensures their content adjusts accordingly.

9. Save the rule. Note: you cannot change a rule's conditions after creation. If you need to adjust conditions, duplicate the rule, modify the duplicate, and delete the original.

Risk and Mitigation Strategy:

• You have a maximum of 50 auto-assignment rules across your entire instance. If you plan to use combinations of survey responses (e.g., level + preference), the number of rules required multiplies quickly. Plan your rule structure to stay within this limit.

• Auto-assignment is a premium feature. If you do not see it in your navigation, go to Apps in your instance and click to request more information about auto-assignment.

• Auto-assignment enrolls the learner, but their status will show as "not started" until they actually open the content. This is expected behavior — enrollment does not equal engagement.

• The only way to connect onboarding survey responses to content assignment is through learner reference fields → auto-assignment rules. Tags and provisioning cannot be used to assign content based on survey answers.

4. Understand the Learner Experience

Description: Once the survey and rules are configured, understand what the learner sees and how they can interact with their responses over time.

Configuration:

1. When a new learner signs in for the first time - regardless of sign-in type (SSO, native registration, or e-commerce purchase) - and navigates to their dashboard, the onboarding survey will appear before the dashboard loads.

2. The learner selects their responses and clicks Save and Continue. They land on their dashboard, which now includes any content triggered by auto-assignment rules matching their responses.

3. If the learner wants to update their responses later, they go to Account → Extended Profile, where their onboarding responses are displayed and editable.

4. When a learner edits their responses, the new values overwrite the old values in their learner reference fields. If auto-unassign is enabled on your rules, content tied to the old values will be removed and content tied to the new values will be assigned.

Risk and Mitigation Strategy:

• Learners are unlikely to remember that they can edit their onboarding responses unless prompted. If you want learners to update their answers (e.g., after a role change), you will need to direct them to the Extended Profile section through communication or in-app guidance.

• When a learner edits their responses, the previous values in their learner reference fields are overwritten. The old data is preserved in the onboarding responses log for reporting, but it will no longer appear on the learner's profile or in the admin view of that learner.

5. Review Reporting in the Onboarding Responses Log

Description: Use the onboarding responses log to review all learner survey submissions, identify trends, and inform decisions about content strategy or survey updates.

Configuration:

1. Navigate to Reporting → Reports → Onboarding Responses Log (found under the Site Activity section).

2. The report displays each learner's submitted responses with columns for each question title.

3. Use the available filters to narrow by date range or client (useful if you are running different surveys per Panorama).

4. Look for patterns in the data. For example, if 75% of learners select "Beginner," ensure your beginner content library is robust and your auto-assignment rules are working correctly for that segment.

5. Export data as needed for stakeholders or for tracking in an external tool.

Risk and Mitigation Strategy:

• The report keys on question titles. If you change a question title later, a new column will appear in the report once a learner submits a response with the new version. The old column with historical data remains. This can create clutter over time if you frequently rename questions.

• Deleting a question does not remove its column from the report. Historical data for that question remains visible as long as the date range includes learners who answered it.

Risk and Mitigation Strategy (Summary)

• Auto-assignment rule conditions cannot be changed after creation. Plan your rules carefully. If changes are needed, duplicate the rule, adjust the duplicate, and delete the original.

• You are limited to 50 auto-assignment rules. Combination-based rules (level + preference) consume rules quickly. Design your rule structure with this limit in mind.

• Learner reference fields are shared across the platform. If you are also using them for Salesforce sync, bulk imports, or custom learner fields, coordinate usage to avoid conflicts. Onboarding survey values will overwrite existing learner reference field values.

• Response values must match exactly between the survey and auto-assignment rules. Copy and paste values rather than retyping to avoid mismatches.

• Editing the onboarding survey does not retrigger it for existing learners. The only way to retrigger is to delete all questions and re-add them, which resets learner profile data.

• Changing question titles creates new columns in reporting. Over time, this can make the onboarding responses log harder to read. Avoid unnecessary title changes.

• Auto-assignment is a premium feature. Confirm it is enabled on your instance before building a workflow that depends on it. Check under Apps in your admin panel.

• Learners can edit their onboarding survey responses at any time via Extended Profile. If auto-unassign is enabled, content may be removed when responses change. If auto-unassign is not enabled, learners will accumulate content from both old and new responses.

• Panorama-specific surveys override the global survey. If you set up a Panorama-level onboarding survey, learners in that Panorama will not see the global survey. If no Panorama survey exists, they see the global one.

We allow our customers to create their own content within their individual Panorama environments. From an admin perspective, is there an easy way to identify which customer created a specific course or piece of content?

We typically recommend a best practice of including a customer identifier in the course name. While most customers follow this convention, there are times when it’s missed—so I’m looking for a more reliable way to track this within the admin view.

Thanks in advance for any guidance!

Do you have buyers or training managers who need to purchase multiple seats in a course for their team, and you're tired of manually creating codes, tracking rosters, and fielding emails about lost access? By combining bulk purchasing, redemption codes, seat-based pricing tiers, and customized order confirmations, you can give buyers a self-service experience to purchase, distribute, and track seats without constant admin intervention. This play also covers how to automate the entire flow via API for organizations running external eCommerce or CRM-triggered provisioning.

Office Hours Recording

Requirement Overview

If any of these requirements fit your end goal, this may be the play for you.

• Requirement 1: You have buyers (training managers, partner admins, team leads) who need to purchase multiple seats in a content object at once rather than one at a time.

• Requirement 2: You want to offer volume-based pricing, the more seats someone buys, the lower the per-seat cost.

• Requirement 3: You need the buyer to be able to distribute access to their learners without your team manually creating codes or managing rosters.

• Requirement 4: You want learners to be able to redeem their seat using a simple code or pre-populated link.

• Requirement 5: You want to customize the purchase confirmation experience so bulk buyers get clear instructions on how to distribute codes to their team.

• Requirement 6: You want to automate code creation and distribution through your CRM, middleware, or external e-commerce system via API.

Functional Areas to be Used

• Bulk Purchasing (toggle on content objects)

• E-Commerce / Seat Pricing Tiers

• Redemption Codes

• Redemption Page Layout

• Order Confirmation Customization (paywall and terms)

• Panorama Landing Pages (optional - for partner-specific redemption)

• API - Redemption Code Endpoints (optional - for automation)

Core Functionality Configurations

1. Enable Bulk Purchasing on Your Content Object

Description: Turn on bulk purchasing for the content object you want to sell in volume. This enables seat-based pricing tiers and generates redemption codes automatically when a buyer completes a purchase.

Configuration:

1. Navigate to the content object you want to enable for bulk purchasing (e.g., a course like "The Art of Pastry").

2. Go to the Enrollment tab and open the E-Commerce settings.

3. Ensure the content is set to purchasable.

4. Toggle on Enable Bulk Purchasing.

5. Define your seat pricing tiers. For each tier, specify the number of seats and the price. For example: 10 seats at $200 ($20/seat), 20 seats at $350 ($17.50/seat), 30 seats at $450 ($15/seat). This is where you build in volume discounts - the more seats a buyer purchases, the lower the per-seat cost.

6. Save your settings.

Risk and Mitigation Strategy:

• Seat pricing tiers are separate from standard single-seat e-commerce pricing. A single learner purchasing the course for themselves will see the standard price; bulk pricing only appears to buyers selecting a seat package.

• Alt pricing (e.g., reference-field-based pricing at $0) applies to individual single-seat purchases, not to bulk seat packages. If you need to offer free bulk access, you cannot use the bulk purchasing flow with a $0 seat tier - you would need to handle that through manually created redemption codes or API-created code groups instead.

• Coupons are currently supported for courses and micro courses but not for learning paths. If your volume discount program involves learning paths, bulk purchasing with seat tiers is your primary pricing mechanism. There is an existing product idea in community to add coupon support for learning paths - upvote it if this is a need for you.

2. Configure the Redemption Page Layout

Description: Set up the page where learners will go to redeem the codes they receive from their buyer/administrator. This is the learner's entry point into the content after a bulk purchase.

Configuration:

1. Navigate to your site's Redemption Page layout (typically accessible at /redeem on your site).

2. The page includes a Redemption Widget by default - this is where learners enter their code and validate it.

3. Customize the page to add context for learners. Consider adding: a hero image or branding, a text block with instructions (e.g., "Your administrator has purchased a seat for you. Enter your code below to get started."), and any registration fields you need to capture (e.g., occupation, organization, membership status).

4. Keep the layout simple. The learner's experience should be: arrive at the page, enter or see their pre-populated code, validate, complete registration (if new), and start consuming content.

Risk and Mitigation Strategy:

• The redemption page works for all sign-in types. If the learner is already logged in, they skip registration and go straight to code validation. If they are new, they complete registration first and then the code is applied.

• If you are using Panorama, every Panorama landing page includes a redemption widget by default. You can use this for partner-specific redemption flows without building a separate page — learners arriving at a Panorama landing page can enter their code directly.

3. Customize the Order Confirmation for Bulk Buyers

Description: The default order confirmation is built for individual end users, not for administrators buying seats on behalf of a team. Customize the confirmation text so bulk buyers know exactly how to distribute codes and where to send their learners.

Configuration:

1. Go to your content object and open the Enrollment → E-Commerce settings.

2. Scroll to Advanced Settings and click Edit Paywall and Terms.

3. In the Confirmation Text field, add instructions tailored to bulk purchasers. Use the WYSIWYG editor to format your message. Example:
   "Thanks for your purchase! If you are an administrator purchasing multiple seats for your learners, you can redeem your codes at [yourdomain.com/redeem]. Check your email for a CSV attachment with your full code list. To view or re-download your codes at any time, go to Account → Purchases in the platform."

4. You can include links, images, and HTML in this field. Consider linking to a custom page in the platform with more detailed distribution instructions if your confirmation needs to serve both individual buyers and bulk purchasers.

5. Save your changes. This confirmation text appears both on-screen at the time of purchase and in the confirmation email sent to the buyer.

Risk and Mitigation Strategy:

• This confirmation text appears for all purchases of this content object - not just bulk purchases. If you sell the same content to individual learners and bulk buyers, write a message that works for both audiences. For example: "Individual users - continue to your dashboard to start learning. Bulk purchasers — go to Account → Purchases to view and distribute your codes, or send your learners to [yourdomain.com/redeem]."

• Price-zero transactions (alt pricing at $0) still go through the checkout flow and will display this confirmation text. If you have free learners going through the purchase flow, ensure the confirmation message does not confuse them with bulk-purchase-specific language.

• To preview what the confirmation looks like, run a test user through the full purchase flow. You can also reference sample communications in the TI Academy course on bulk purchasing for examples.

4. Understand the Buyer Experience (Code Management)

Description: Once the buyer completes their purchase, they receive their codes immediately and have ongoing access to manage them. Understanding this flow helps you reduce support requests and guide buyers who need help.

Configuration:

1. At the time of purchase, the buyer sees a confirmation screen with a View Redemption Codes button. Clicking it displays all purchased codes, the associated content object, and the redemption status of each code (redeemed or unredeemed).

2. The buyer also receives a confirmation email with a CSV attachment containing all codes.

3. At any time after purchase, the buyer can return to Account → Purchases in the platform to view unredeemed codes, download the code list again, redeem a code for themselves, and send a redemption link directly.

4. As an admin, you can also look up the buyer in Manage Users, navigate to their account, and view their purchased codes. This is useful when a buyer contacts you saying they lost their codes - you can retrieve them without needing the buyer to log in.

Risk and Mitigation Strategy:

• The buyer does not need to return to the platform after purchase if the email confirmation and CSV are sufficient for their distribution workflow. Make this clear in your confirmation messaging to reduce unnecessary login support requests.

• The redemption tracking view (redeemed vs. unredeemed) is a useful tool for buyers managing annual training budgets. If they purchase 20 seats at the start of the year, they can track how many have been used over time and follow up with learners who haven't redeemed yet. Highlight this capability in your buyer communications.

5. Set Up Learner Redemption Flows

Description: Configure how learners actually redeem the codes they receive from their buyer. There are multiple redemption methods - choose the one that creates the least friction for your audience.

Configuration:

Method 1: Standard Redemption Page

1. The buyer sends the learner a code and the URL to your redemption page (e.g., yourdomain.com/redeem).

2. The learner navigates to the page, enters the code, clicks Validate, completes registration (if new), and is enrolled in the content.

Method 2: Pre-Populated Redemption URL

1. Append the code to the redemption URL: yourdomain.com/redeem/[CODE].

2. When the learner clicks this link, the code is already populated in the redemption widget. They click Validate and proceed. This reduces friction and eliminates the risk of the learner mistyping the code.

Method 3: Panorama Landing Page Redemption

1. If you are using Panorama for a specific partner or client, send learners to the Panorama landing page URL.

2. The Panorama landing page includes a redemption widget by default. Learners enter their code and proceed through the standard flow.

3. You can also pre-populate the code in the Panorama URL the same way as Method 2.

Risk and Mitigation Strategy:

• Learners must have an account to redeem a code. If they are new to the platform, they will complete registration as part of the redemption flow. SSO sign-in is supported - if your learners authenticate via SSO, they will go through SSO as part of redemption.

• The pre-populated URL method (Method 2) is the lowest-friction option and is recommended when the buyer is distributing codes via email. It eliminates the most common support issue: learners entering codes incorrectly.

• If a code has already been redeemed (all seats used), the learner will see a validation error. Ensure the buyer knows how many codes they have and how many seats each code represents so they do not over-distribute.

6. Automate Code Creation and Distribution via API (Optional)

Description: For organizations using external e-commerce, CRM-triggered provisioning, or middleware, the entire bulk purchasing workflow can be automated through the TI API. This is ideal for B2B deals closed outside the platform, partner provisioning, or any scenario where you want to eliminate manual code creation.

Configuration:

1. Use the Create Redemption Code Group API endpoint to programmatically create a new group of codes. You specify the content object, the number of seats, the code label, expiration date, and any other settings.

2. Use the List Redemption Codes endpoint to pull all codes in a group, including their redemption status.

3. Use the Get Code Details endpoint to query individual codes by label. If you name your code groups consistently (e.g., "art-of-pastry-partner-abc"), you can query by label without needing to pull the full list.

4. Feed the code list into your distribution mechanism - e.g., a HubSpot email sequence, a Salesforce-triggered message, a Mailchimp campaign, or a Microsoft Outlook distribution.

5. A common automation pattern: a Closed Won deal in Salesforce triggers middleware (e.g., Zapier, Workato, custom integration) to call the TI API, create a code group with the appropriate number of seats and content access, pull the code list, and send the codes to the buyer via your email platform - all without any manual admin action.

Risk and Mitigation Strategy:

• The API can create and retrieve codes, but TI does not send the distribution message in an API-triggered flow. You need an external mechanism (email platform, CRM, middleware) to deliver the codes to the buyer or learners.

• API automation requires middleware that can make API calls and handle the orchestration logic. If you do not have middleware in place, Thought Industries Professional Services can build and manage this flow for you.

• If you create code groups with meaningful labels (e.g., "partner-name-content-date"), you can query codes by label rather than pulling the full list, which simplifies your integration logic.

• For organizations using external e-commerce (not TI native e-commerce), the API flow is the primary method to create and distribute codes. Everything shown in the UI demo above still applies - codes created via API behave identically to codes created through bulk purchasing in the platform.

Risk and Mitigation Strategy (Summary)

• Alt pricing at $0 does not work with bulk seat packages. Seat pricing comes from the tier configuration, not from learner reference field-based alt pricing. If you need free bulk access, create code groups manually or via API instead.

• Coupons are not supported for learning paths. If your volume discount program involves learning paths, use seat pricing tiers as your discount mechanism. Upvote the existing community idea for learning path coupon support if this is a gap for you.

• The confirmation text appears for all purchases, not just bulk. Write a message that serves both individual and bulk buyers, or link to a separate page with bulk-specific instructions.

• Learners must have an account to redeem a code. Whether through native registration or SSO, the learner will need to complete sign-in as part of the redemption flow.

• TI does not send distribution messages in API-triggered flows. You need an external email or CRM mechanism to deliver codes to buyers or learners.

• Pre-populated redemption URLs are the lowest-friction option for learners. Use the format yourdomain.com/redeem/[CODE] to eliminate mistyped codes and reduce support requests.

• Bulk purchase codes and tracking are accessible from the buyer's Account → Purchases tab and from Manage Users on the admin side. If a buyer loses their codes, you can retrieve them without asking the buyer to log in.

• Price-zero transactions still trigger the checkout flow and confirmation messaging. Be aware of this if you have free learners going through a purchasable content flow - your confirmation text will appear for them as well.

Join us monthly for our What’s New? Webinar to understand the impact of our product releases and latest innovations. Each session delivers a dynamic, visual walk-through of our most impactful enhancements including what’s new and what you should do next.

We’ll take a tour of the new capabilities and how they work, where they shine, and how to put them to work quickly. This is your shortcut to staying current in the platform, so you can turn TI updates into your business momentum!

🚀 Join us live on the first Wednesday of each month at 11am EST for an overview of our most impactful releases from the past month.

Note: While we won’t be providing live support or troubleshooting during this time, we’re always happy to point you in the right direction or connect you with resources that can help.

• Accelerate site management and design with a more intuitive Site Builder experience, making widget editing faster, clearer, and easier to control

• Improve learner engagement and content discovery through a more flexible and consistent related content experience across courses and learning paths

• Deliver more inclusive learning experiences with enhanced accessibility aligned to modern standards, reducing friction for all users

• Scale operations with less manual effort by automating course creation, video integration, and certification workflows through expanded APIs

• Increase speed and consistency across programs by enabling bulk content and credential management at scale

• Transform how learners find content with AI-powered conversational search that understands natural language and delivers contextual, guided results

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