Lead humanly. Learn constantly. Build with AI.
Jay Vergara
L&D Strategist · Leadership Development · AI Trainer
Tokyo, Japan · Vancouver, Canada
I grew up in Vancouver, B.C. and I've been living in Tokyo for over a decade now. Came thinking I'd stay a year or two and then... well, you know how that goes.
I've spent most of my career in learning and development. Indeed, Rakuten, TELUS, Yellow Pages. Building training programs and leading L&D teams and trying to figure out why most corporate learning doesn't actually stick.
These days I run Peak Potential Consulting with my business partner Matt Gates. We help companies build leaders, teams, and learning cultures that work across borders.
I also can't stop thinking about AI. Not in the "robots are coming for your job" way but in the "this changes everything about how we develop people and I want to be figuring it out" way. I use AI every single day to run the business, write content, pursue my MBA at GLOBIS University, and build systems I couldn't have built alone.
What I Actually Do
I wear a few hats and they overlap more than you'd expect. Here's where I spend most of my time.
AI for HR, L&D, and Business
I build AI systems into my actual work. Not demos and not proofs of concept but real tools I use every day. Content pipelines, knowledge management systems, coaching assistants, and workflow automation for L&D teams. But it goes beyond HR and learning. I teach professionals how to use the AI tools they actually need for their work, whether that's automating reports, building internal tools, or just getting better at prompting. The goal is always the same: make the technology work for you so you can focus on the parts that need a human.
Learning & Development Strategy
I've built onboarding programs, designed instructional content, run learning measurement initiatives, and led L&D teams at companies with thousands of employees. The question I keep coming back to: why does most corporate training not change behavior? I write about what I've learned trying to answer that and the frameworks that actually work.
Cross-Cultural Business Communication
A decade in Tokyo working across Japanese, North American, and Southeast Asian business cultures taught me things no textbook covers. I write about navigating high-context and low-context communication, running meetings across cultures, and the translation gaps that cause real problems in global teams. If you've ever had a meeting where everyone nodded and nothing happened, I've been there.
Leadership & Manager Development
I design and deliver leadership development programs for first-time managers and senior leaders. That includes coaching frameworks, giving and receiving feedback, building psychological safety, and the messy human stuff that makes or breaks a team. Most of my work here is with global organizations where the people doing the leading are spread across cultures, time zones, and languages.
What You'll Find on This Site
Lead Humanly
Articles on leadership, cross-cultural communication, corporate learning strategy, and the human skills that matter more as AI takes over the rest.
Read articles →Build with AI
Hands-on tutorials for using AI in corporate training, talent development, and people operations. Real tools, real workflows, no hype.
Read tutorials →The thesis behind all of it is simple. The leaders who will matter most in the next decade are the ones who are deeply human AND technologically fluent. Not one or the other but both.
Career Timeline
Over a decade building training programs, developing leaders, and figuring out how organizations actually grow people.
Peak Potential Consulting
2022 – PresentPartner & Lead Learning Consultant · 🇯🇵 Tokyo
Co-founded with Matt Gates, ACC. We work with companies across Japan and North America on leadership development, team building, and cross-cultural training.
Indeed
2022 – 2025Lead Learning Partner · 🇯🇵 Tokyo
Led AI learning programs, designed training for 800+ staff across APAC, coached internal facilitators, and built the AI Foundations program that expanded technical capability across the business.
Rakuten
2020 – 2022HR Development / Organizational Development · 🇯🇵 Tokyo
Developed weekly culture training reaching 20,000+ team members across Japan, APAC, and EMEA. Launched and operated Business Do leadership training broadcast to 15,000 staff.
TELUS
2018 – 2020Senior Learning Specialist · 🇨🇦 Vancouver
Facilitated 75+ training sessions for 1,200+ staff. Consulted on 30 home services projects and designed the training strategy for SmartHome Security from scratch.
Yellow Pages
2015 – 2018Manager, Sales Training & Enablement · 🇨🇦 Vancouver
Where I made the jump from sales into training. Facilitated 50 classes, designed 5 major national projects as a Master Trainer, spent 300+ hours in on-the-floor coaching, and built a 6-week onboarding program for Western Canada.
Yellow Pages
2012 – 2015Media Account Consultant (Inside Sales) · 🇨🇦 Vancouver
Three years of inside sales before moving into training. Managed client relationships, designed advertising proposals, and became a Subject Matter Expert on digital advertising (SEM, SEO, Facebook, Creative Banner Ads). Also coached and onboarded new peers on the sales floor.
Coast Capital Savings
2011 – 2012Service Pro (Face to Face Sales) · 🇨🇦 Vancouver
Where it all started. Front-line banking sales, advising clients on financial products, hitting 110%+ of referral targets, and coaching peers on sales floor performance. The job that taught me I cared more about developing people than closing deals.
Education & Credentials
Graduate School of Management · Tokyo
Pre-MBA completed. MBA starting October 2026.
Accredited Practitioner
Psychometric and behavioural profiling for team development and coaching.
Intrivity Certified
Communication & Collaboration
Certified facilitator for improving team communication and collaboration dynamics.
Languages
Bilingual professional
English (native) / Japanese (studying for JLPT N2)
When I'm Not Working
Dad
Priority number one
Photography
Landscape, street, portrait
3D Printing
Building things layer by layer
Vibe Coding
AI development for fun
Studying Japanese
JLPT N2 goal
Connect
Find me on the platforms where I share the most.
Jay Vergara / leadhuman.ai
AI tutorials and leadership insights for professionals who want to work smarter and lead better.
Peak Potential Consulting
My consulting practice helping organizations build leaders, teams, and learning cultures that work across borders.