Tom McDowall

Tom McDowall is an L&D strategist, speaker, and consultant dedicated to helping learning functions become high-impact business partners. As the founder of Evolve Learning and Development, he works with organisations to adopt agile, experimentation-led approaches that focus on real-world performance, not just content delivery.

Tom is known for cutting through industry noise with a practical, no-nonsense approach grounded in evidence-informed practice. He advocates for performance-first solutions, supports the upskilling of internal L&D teams, and champions experimentation as a way to reduce risk and increase value.

He’s the host of the Instructional Design Tips channel, organiser of IDTX, and a long-standing contributor to the global L&D conversation. With over a decade of experience and four years serving on the board of The Learning Network, Tom’s work is focused on helping learning professionals rethink their role, challenge assumptions, and deliver learning that actually works.