Episode 164

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Published on:

30th Sep 2026

Learning Beyond the Algorithm: What AI Can't Teach You with Alex Mozes

Can you really learn to sell by watching a course, memorizing a script, or practicing with an AI bot? Alex Moses says no, not if you want the skill to stick.

In this episode of Sell by Being Human, host Alex Smith sits down with Alex Mozes, CEO of Gravity Learning and one of the first employees at Udemy. Alex shares his journey from scaling a learning marketplace to founding a company built on a contrarian idea: that effective learning isn’t easy, fun, or asynchronous. It’s interactive, challenging, and deeply human.

Drawing on his experience at Udemy, where he helped grow the company to over 100 million learners, Alex explains why the industry’s focus on completion rates and satisfaction scores is misguided. He argues that real growth comes from practice, feedback, and accountability with other people. The conversation explores the neuroscience of learning, the power of small group cohorts, and why AI is a great practice partner but a poor teacher.

Alex also discusses how these principles apply directly to leadership and sales. He shares his approach to building trust with his team through structured feedback and genuine human connection, and he explains why the best way to sell is often to simply listen.

Tune in to learn how to practice sales skills with real feedback, use AI the right way, and sell by being more human, not less.

Key Takeaways

  • Effective learning is about outcomes, not ease or entertainment
  • Real behavior change happens through practice, challenge, and feedback with other humans
  • The L&D industry has focused on the wrong metrics like completion and satisfaction
  • AI is excellent for practicing a known skill but poor for learning something new
  • Interpersonal skills are becoming the central currency of business success
  • Small-group, interactive, cohort-based learning mirrors how humans evolved to learn
  • To make learning stick, you must apply it and visualize its future impact
  • Great facilitators make learners feel seen by connecting content to their lives
  • "Feedback is fuel" for building a transparent and honest team culture
  • As a CEO, dedicating one-on-ones to non-work conversations builds deeper trust
  • The simplest and hardest sales skill is to listen intently to understand the other person
  • Creating a space where people can be bad at something is essential for growth
  • The best way to learn is to teach and practice with an accountability partner
  • Connecting learning to a specific future application makes it more likely to be retained
  • Your unique human quirks, like working from a sailboat, are part of what makes you relatable

In This Episode:

  • [00:00] Dynamic Intro
  • [00:47] Welcome and introducing Alex Mozes
  • [03:17] What "sell by being human" means to Alex
  • [03:18] Being human in a world of AI coworkers
  • [07:40] Small moments and community in early stage Udemy
  • [08:28] Growing a team from 3 to 150 people
  • [11:42] Rethinking earlier beliefs about learning and friction
  • [13:10] Why the L&D industry built toward the wrong goal
  • [17:43] Skills that matter most for effective learning today
  • [18:49] Why AI is good for practice but not for learning
  • [23:27] What makes a facilitator truly connect with a room
  • [27:24] Questions that help learners go deeper
  • [32:09] How Alex builds connection and transparency as a CEO
  • [32:23] The SBI feedback model and "feedback is fuel"
  • [35:46] Using human skills to connect with investors and clients
  • [36:28] Why listening is the core selling skill
  • [37:52] What makes Alex totally Alex
  • [39:19] Where to connect with Alex
  • [39:35] Closing :

Notable Quotes

  • [13:24] "It's not about making learning easier or more fun... Effective is what we should be caring about. Outcomes is what we should be caring about." — Alex Mozes
  • [14:57] "The number of subscribers to Duolingo to the number of people that have learned to speak another language using Duolingo is a fraction." — Alex Mozes
  • [20:38] "AI is sycophantic... is not going to challenge or put you in a position where you can be bad. And it's also something that you really need to do with somebody that can give you truly constructive feedback." — Alex Mozes
  • [22:12] "AI is actually pretty good at practice. It's not good at learning." — Alex Mozes
  • [23:46 "I think one of the central traits of a good teacher, facilitator, or good experience is how connected they are to you and how much they are able to make you feel seen." — Alex Moses
  • [32:58] "Feedback is fuel." — Alex Mozes

Our Guest

Alex Mozes is the CEO of Gravity Learning, a company focused on interpersonal skills training through live, interactive, cohort-based workshops. Previously, he was one of the first employees at Udemy, where he helped scale the company from a small startup to a global learning platform serving over 100 million learners. With over 20 years in the learning industry, Alex is a leading voice on the future of adult learning, the science of behavior change, and the critical role of human connection in professional development.

Resources and Links

Sell by Being Human

Alex Moses

Alex Smith

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About the Podcast

Sell By Being Human
On the Sell By Being Human podcast, award-winning sales professional Alex Smith provides the proven way to harness your innate human skills like empathy, curiosity, and kindness to learn how to sell and navigate the sales journey.
This is where human connection and sales meet. You may be someone whose success depends on influence, negotiation, and your ability to create change, but you may reject aggressive sales tactics. Maybe you feel stuck in corporate "autopilot," knowing your best asset is your genuine personality, but you struggle to use it to get what you want. Then this channel is for you.

It will teach you how to close the gap between wanting to be ethical and feeling pressured to sell aggressively. You’ll also learn actionable strategies for translating emotional intelligence into high-trust results. Join Alex and top guests, including NY Times bestsellers, keynote speakers, and global founders, as they prove that being truly human is the ultimate sales advantage.

About your host

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Alex Smith

Alex Smith is a seasoned sales professional and podcast host who champions a human-first approach to selling. With nearly two decades of experience, he explores how empathy, curiosity, and genuine connection drive influence in everyday life. Through his podcast, he highlights stories from people across all professions, showing that anyone can persuade and create impact simply by being human.