How Align Technology is Driving Global Engagement and Career Growth
Align Technology designs and manufactures the Invisalign® System, the most advanced clear aligner system in the world, iTero™ intraoral scanners and services, and exocad™ CAD/CAM software. These technology building blocks enable enhanced digital orthodontic and restorative workflows to improve patient outcomes and practice efficiencies for over 281.4 thousand doctor customers and are key to accessing Align’s 600 million consumer market opportunity worldwide. Over the past 28 years, Align has helped doctors treat over 20.1 million patients with the Invisalign System and is driving the evolution in digital dentistry through the Align™ Digital Platform, the integrated suite of unique, proprietary technologies and services delivered as a seamless, end-to-end solution for patients and consumers, orthodontists and GP dentists, and lab/partners.
Align Technology was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona and has over 21,000 employees across 47 countries. The company operates a hybrid learning and development (L&D) model: centralized support paired with regional customization.
Sabrina Cervantes Villa, Human-Centered Design Specialist on the global L&D team, plays a central role. She partners with seven regional teams, curates content, and supports company-wide development initiatives such as performance and career development programs – ‘GROW and ‘Voyage’, respectively.
Challenge: Meeting a World of Learning Needs
Align’s L&D leaders lacked comprehensive insight into the development needs and learning habits of their 21,000+ employees. With various teams using different learning management systems (LMS), global analytics were challenging, and content consistency was limited. Sabrina helped lead a year-long consolidation initiative that resulted in a unified LMS, a foundational step toward building a shared learning culture.
However, technology alone didn’t solve the problem. Learner engagement varied widely across the organization: while some regions had strong participation, others struggled with minimal participation beyond mandatory training. Supporting over 21,000 employees in 47 countries, across functions, languages, and learning preferences, required building a scalable yet personalized approach to professional development.
Objectives: Building a More Relevant Learning Experience
To address wide variations in learner engagement across regions, Sabrina and the global L&D team focused on making content more role-specific, inclusive, and accessible by using data.
- They aimed to put the learner’s voice at the forefront of the content strategy, including opportunities to get firsthand input from learners and regional leaders
- They aimed to connect relevance with engagement by curating content that resonated with employees’ day-to-day responsibilities and diverse learning styles
- They focused on tracking development trends among segments of employees to monitor adoption and spot opportunities to expand reach
- With the backing of senior leadership, they worked to foster a culture of continuous development
Implementation: A Hybrid Strategy Rooted in Relevance and Data
To deliver on that vision, Sabrina used employees’ direct feedback as the north star of the L&D team’s approach to a comprehensive overhaul of available development offerings, an interface refresh, global messaging updates, and general content strategy. This included:
- Creation of a robust data strategy, including regular check-ins with regional talent partners, a global learning survey, and ongoing opportunities for employees to provide direct feedback on the courses they complete
- A reorganization of the available professional development catalogs, reflecting the topics employees shared as items of interest
- Data-informed messaging – for example: suggesting time commitments for development that employee feedback noted as realistic
- Internal professional development certificates were introduced after being noted as a suggested incentive across feedback mechanisms
- Enablement of consistent modes of curation: Monthly News Feed, Department Catalogs, and tailored course recommendations by role
While the team doesn’t segregate learning paths by every job role, due to the sheer number of employees, Sabrina successfully used departmental-level segmentation to surface relevant content and encourage goal-aligned learning.
OpenSesame plays a critical role in this effort. With more than 900 curated OpenSesame courses integrated into their platform, Sabrina works closely with her Customer Success Manager and OpenSesame’s curation team to find the right content based on feedback from global surveys and regional partner meetings.
To ensure learning stays relevant, Sabrina reviews OpenSesame-specific engagement data quarterly. She performs regular “library refreshes” to remove underutilized content and replace it with fresh, targeted courses, often sourced based on recurring feedback.
Results: Driving a Culture of Growth Through Data and Choice
By leveraging internal performance and career development programs like Voyage and Grow, and tools like OpenSesame, Align has seen tangible results:
- A 217% increase in participation in the introductory career development module – up from 81 completions to 257
- 1700+ professional development certificates issued across leadership and technical topics, validating learner growth, focusing on internal initiatives, leadership, certification prep, and fully accredited certificates
- 700+ Lean Six Sigma Belts earned in a year, strengthening process improvement capabilities, saving employees over $376k
These numbers represent more than participation, they show a company actively evolving toward a learner-first culture. Data-informed curation, executive support, and regional collaboration have fueled Align’s success in transforming learning from a task to a talent advantage.
Looking Ahead: Expanding Access and Impact
Align’s global L&D strategy continues to evolve. A top priority is translating learning into more languages to support its globally dispersed workforce. Sabrina also plans to support development partners in the organization to digitize the full Voyage experience within the LMS to offer more flexible, scalable access to career exploration tools.
With OpenSesame and a strong internal framework, Align is well-positioned to keep building a culture of continuous learning—one that values curiosity, personalization, and professional growth.
