Perhaps you have already noticed that a fundamentally new period of IT is now upon us - the era of adaptation - in which our systems learn from their experiences with us, and then deliver this learning back to us in ways that make us all smarter and more productive. Emerging from this era of adaptation is a radically new phenomenon that goes well beyond the bounds and categories that have come before it, called the learning layer. The learning layer is a merging of people and systems that automatically learns , evolves, and integrates into the very fabric of your business. The learning layer takes its lessons from the way the brain works, taps into the cognitive surplus of your organization, and leads to possibilities for attaining whole new levels of business productivity, innovation, and sustainable advantages. It makes the dream of the truly adaptive enterprise a reality. Author Steven Flinn draws on his experience and expertise as a senior global executive, CIO, strategist, scientist, and inventor, to provide an in-depth look at the learning layer and how it promises to transform the performance of your organization. The Learning Layer is written for business executives who want to begin staking out opportunities for taking their businesses to the next level of performance, as well as for practitioners in fields such as IT, knowledge management, organizational learning, and business innovation. And business and technology futurists who seek to understand, and extrapolate from, the next major wave of IT capabilities will find much to consider in these pages.