Why We're Doing This
The story behind Actyra and our mission to fix what's broken in eLearning.
“We've spent twenty years watching organizations waste millions rebuilding courses they already paid for. We decided it was time to do something about it.”
— Brian Caudill, Founder
It Started with Frustration
If you've worked in eLearning long enough, you know the feeling. A client calls with an urgent request: they need to translate their flagship compliance course into Spanish. The course was built three years ago. The original developer left the company. The source files? Gone. Corrupted. On a hard drive that crashed.
So you do the math together. Rebuilding the course from scratch: eight weeks minimum, probably $25,000 or more. And that's just for one course in one language. They have fifty courses and need twelve languages.
The client goes quiet. You can hear them doing the multiplication in their head. Then they ask the question that haunts this industry:
“But we already paid for this. The content is right there. Why can't we just... use it?”
That question has been asked thousands of times, in thousands of organizations, by thousands of frustrated learning professionals. And until now, the answer has always been some variation of: “Sorry, that's not how it works.”
We decided to change the answer.
The Broken Promise of eLearning
When SCORM was created in the late 1990s, it promised interoperability. Build once, deploy anywhere. Content that works across any Learning Management System. A universal standard that would free organizations from vendor lock-in.
That promise was half-kept. SCORM did achieve LMS interoperability: you can take a SCORM package from one system and upload it to another. That part works.
But somewhere along the way, we forgot about the content itself. While SCORM standardized how courses communicate with learning systems, it never standardized how content is structured inside those packages. Each authoring tool created its own proprietary format. And once content went in, it didn't come back out.
The Reality of “Reusable” Content
- Storyline courses can't be edited in Captivate
- iSpring output can't be imported into Lectora
- EdApp content can't be migrated to Rise
- Even the same tool often can't open files from older versions
- SCORM packages are effectively write-only: data goes in, but doesn't come back out
Brian Caudill
Founder & Chief Architect
We've Lived This Problem
I build tools that make work simpler and easier. For 20+ years, I've worked at the intersection of SCORM, learning technology, AI, and software engineering—starting with systems for the U.S. military and later founding JCA Solutions, one of the first e-learning standards companies (acquired 2015).
Actyra wasn't founded by technologists who saw a market opportunity. We're instructional designers, eLearning developers, and learning experience architects who spent years living inside this broken system.
Now, as Founder & Chief Architect of Actyra, I create AI-powered tools that remove friction from the lives of my clients. My products support organizations including the Army, Navy, Northrop Grumman, Fiat, Infor, FlightSafety, LexisNexis, NREL, Stanford, Penn Foster, Truist, Apollo Group, and many more.
Our Journey
Building Courses, Losing Sleep
Years of building SCORM courses for clients across industries. Watching the same problems repeat: lost source files, impossible translations, orphaned content libraries.
JCA Solutions Acquired
JCA Solutions, one of the first e-learning standards companies, is acquired—validating that SCORM tooling is essential infrastructure.
The Breaking Point
A major client needed to update 200+ courses for regulatory changes. No source files. Estimated rebuild cost: over $2 million. There had to be a better way.
Starting to Dig
We began reverse-engineering SCORM packages. Understanding how different authoring tools structure their output. Learning what's actually inside these "black boxes."
The AI Revolution
The emergence of large language models with reasoning capabilities transformed what was possible. Suddenly, AI could help parse complex structures, understand context, and process content at scale.
Actyra Is Born
Combining deep domain knowledge with AI capabilities, we built something that finally worked: a system that could read and extract content from SCORM packages regardless of which tool created them.
Building the Future
Now we're turning that technology into tools that anyone can use. Making content liberation accessible to every organization that needs it.
What We Believe
Our work is driven by a set of core beliefs about how eLearning should work.
Organizations should own their content, not just their files
When you pay to create a course, you should have access to what's inside it—not just the ability to play it back.
Technology should serve learning, not constrain it
Tool choices shouldn't create permanent limitations. Content should flow where it's needed.
The past shouldn't hold the future hostage
Legacy content represents millions in investment. It should be an asset, not a liability.
Complexity should be absorbed by tools, not people
Learning professionals should focus on learning design, not wrestling with file formats.
Open knowledge benefits everyone
We share what we learn because the industry improves when understanding spreads.
Every dollar matters
Every dollar spent rebuilding existing content is a dollar not spent on new learning experiences.
Why This Matters Now
The urgency has never been greater. Several converging forces are making content liberation essential.
The AI Revolution Needs Data
Organizations want to use AI to personalize learning. But AI needs data to work with. When your content is trapped inside opaque SCORM packages, it's invisible to these systems.
Global Workforces Demand Localization
Companies that once operated in one or two languages now need content in ten or twenty. The old model of rebuilding courses for each language is economically impossible.
Accessibility Is Non-Negotiable
Regulatory requirements for accessible content are tightening worldwide. Organizations need to audit and remediate thousands of courses—only possible if you can access the content inside them.
Platform Migration Nightmares
As the LMS market consolidates and organizations switch platforms, they're discovering that "portable" SCORM content often isn't. Content extraction becomes critical for successful migrations.
Trusted by Industry Leaders
Products built to support government agencies, global enterprises, and leading educational institutions.
Our Mission
The eLearning industry doesn't have to stay broken. Content doesn't have to stay trapped. The millions invested in training don't have to become write-offs when source files disappear.
We're doing this work because we believe it matters. Because the technology to solve this problem finally exists, and someone needs to build it.
That someone is us. And we're just getting started.
Let's Talk
Ready to liberate your content? Curious about what's possible? We'd love to hear from you.
Get In Touch