Beyond 8: Hyper-personalized pathways for GenZ Learners

Jul 3, 2025

Guest

Tara Srinivasan

Naveen Mahesh and Raaji Naveen, co-founders of Beyond 8, discuss their innovative approach to learner-determined education for Gen Z. They explain how personalized pathways replace rigid timelines, allowing students to engage in internships and wellness activities while receiving tailored mentorship. Tara Srinivasan shares her journey, emphasizing the importance of learner agency and how Dream Mapping transformed her aspirations. The conversation critiques standardized assessments and promotes an education model centered on passion and purpose.

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INSIGHT

Learner, Not Infrastructure, Matters

Traditional education often prioritizes syllabus completion over meaningful impact for learners.
Beyond 8 focuses on the learner as the center, not just infrastructure, to create relevant and purpose-driven education.

ANECDOTE

Personalized Attention Transforms Learning

Tara experienced a shift from large classrooms with minimal attention to a focused, personalized learning environment.
Small teacher-to-student ratios at Beyond 8 allowed her to ask questions and fully engage in learning.

ADVICE

Balance Personalization With Collaboration

Design learning to balance personalization, peer collaboration, and family involvement.
Use mentoring and internships personalized to passions while leveraging group learning for academics.

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Episode 236: Beyond 8: Hyper-Personalised Pathways for Gen Z Learners

What happens when you stop treating school buildings as the centre of learning and start treating the learner as the centre instead? In this episode we meet the founders of Beyond 8—and one of their students—to explore a high-touch, hyper-personalised model that is helping Gen Z learners design futures they’re truly excited about.

Across much of the world, high-school “success” still hinges on rigid timetables, batch-processing classrooms, and marks that often miss what matters most to teens: purpose and agency. Beyond 8 (https://beyond8.in)—a learner-determined high-school ecosystem in Chennai and Bengaluru—flips that script. Each teenager begins with a Dream-Mapping session, then receives a dynamic timetable that blends Cambridge or NIOS academics, internships, service projects, and wellness and learning habits. An AI-driven scheduler personalises every week, while a 1:1 mentor model and 50-learner “pod” structure ensure guidance stays deeply human.

Founded by long-time educators Naveen Mahesh and Raaji Naveen after 25 years of experimentation at HLC International School (https://hlcschool.in), Beyond 8 now counts 90 % of its graduates entering their first-choice universities and an equal share reporting higher confidence in navigating adulthood. Their approach—“Beyond Bricks” learning—has inspired micro-school start-ups and will likely get policy pilots going across the world. In this conversation we unpack the design choices, challenges, and future possibilities of hyper-personalised pathways for GenZ

Naveen Mahesh, Co-founder, Beyond 8

Social entrepreneur, Managing Trustee of HLC International School, and Harvard GSE alum. Naveen advises start-ups on learner agency, serves on the boards of NalandaWay (which serves over 10 million learners in Government schools), and Youth For Conservation Action Network and Gnanodaya Rehabilitation Association, which provides education to children coming from families affected by leprosy. LinkedIn

Raaji Naveen, Co-founder, Beyond 8

A Social Entrepreneur, Vision-to-Strategy-to-Execution Specialist for Transformative Impact and a Champion of Learner-Determined Education. Raaji is an Ambassador for the Certificate Of Advanced Educational Leadership Course at Harvard. Raaji also serves as a trustee on the board of HLC International school. LinkedIn

Tara Srinivasan

Alumni Beyond 8 - Cohort of 2025

Tara Srinivasan was one of the first learners to join us—and she’s made every moment count. With a passion for Physics and Chemistry, she’s led peer sessions and designed math papers for state board students. She’s also a Bharatanatyam dancer, pianist, and composer of our school’s progression song, leading our music and dance teams for three years. Tara’s voice shines through student publications on LGBTQIA+ inclusion and cyberbullying, and she’s interned with organizations and artists to create content that inspires. A true example of learner agency in action.