Edtech Insiders

Send us a textJoin hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell as they explore the latest developments in education technology, from ASU+GSV insights to AI model releases, international edtech innovations, and federal policy shake-ups.✨ Episode Highlights:[00:01:45] ASU+GSV recap and post-conference energy[00:04:48] Strategic AI integration gains traction[00:05:56] Edtech market braces for consolidation[00:08:45] Linda McMahon engages at ASU+GSV[00:10:18] Challenges merging CS and AI in schools[00:13:16] Harvard pushes back on federal DEI demands signals sector shift[00:23:21] Yuanfudao launches next-gen AI tutor[00:28:20] OpenAI releases GPT-4.1 with huge upgrades[00:30:25] Google and Claude enhance AI tools[00:33:56] Brisk wins GSV Cup and raises $15M[00:35:20] Big funding rounds hit across edtech[00:37:56] Global expansion and tutor startup fundingPlus, special guest:[00:38:27] Colin Earnst of the Ed-tech Leadership Collective on building edtech leadership😎 Stay updated with Edtech Insiders! Follow our Podcast on:Apple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon MusicSign up for the Edtech Insiders newsletter.Follow Edtech Insiders on LinkedIn!🎉 Presenting Sponsor:This season of Edtech Insiders is once again brought to you by Tuck Advisors, the M&A firm for EdTech companies. Run by serial entrepreneurs with over 25 years of experience founding, investing in, and selling companies, Tuck believes you deserve M&A advisors who work as hard as you do.

Send us a textVikas Pota is an entrepreneur and investor in education and digital businesses that seek to address some of the sector's intractable challenges and to advance education quality and opportunity. He is the founder of T4 Education, the Global EdTech Prize and the World's Best School Prizes. He is the Executive Chairman of the Education Leaders Forum, where he convenes the CEOs and leaders of many of the world’s biggest and most influential education businesses to advance their growth. Vikas is also the Founder of Inicio Partners, an executive search firm dedicated to helping education institutions, technology companies, and social impact organisations find their best leadership talent. He has previously led the rebrand of a major education business, built a corporate venture capital fund, and run a philanthropic foundation. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:Why storytelling—not policy—is the key to transforming education.How the Global EdTech Prize centers educators in judging impact.The ripple effect of education prizes on national policies.What makes edtech truly scalable and impactful.A thoughtful take on AI’s role in education and society.✨ Episode Highlights:[00:01:21] Vikas Pota’s vision for global education reform[00:02:34] Launching the educator-judged Global EdTech Prize[00:04:36] How prizes drive innovation and influence policy[00:07:32] Elevating teacher status through the Global Teacher Prize[00:09:07] “Policy no longer moves the needle”—Obama’s leadership lesson[00:12:08] Who should apply for the prize—and why it matters[00:16:33] AI in education: Asking what we should do, not just what we can😎 Stay updated with Edtech Insiders! Follow our Podcast on:Apple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon MusicSign up for the Edtech Insiders newsletter.Follow Edtech Insiders on LinkedIn!🎉 Presenting Sponsor:This season of Edtech Insiders is once again brought to you by Tuck Advisors, the M&A firm for EdTech companies. Run by serial entrepreneurs with over 25 years of experience founding, investing in, and selling companies, Tuck believes you deserve M&A advisors who work as hard as you do.

Send us a textRobert Barnett co-founded the Modern Classrooms Project, which has empowered 80,000+ educators in 180+ countries to meet every learner’s needs. Before that he taught math, computer science, English, social studies, and law, from the middle-school to university levels, at public and private schools in the U.S. and Switzerland. He graduated cum laude from Princeton University and Harvard Law School; speaks English, French, and Spanish; and lives in Washington, DC. His book, Meet Every Learner's Needs, comes out in February, and he hopes his two young children will learn in Modern Classrooms someday!💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:How Modern Classrooms transforms the “operating system” of schoolsWhy teacher-created videos are more powerful than polished contentThe case for paper-based mastery checks in a tech-driven worldRob’s take on AI tools—and why teacher-facing AI holds promiseHow to truly personalize learning while keeping it personal✨ Episode Highlights:[00:02:27] Rob’s journey from overwhelmed teacher to instructional leader[00:03:46] What’s wrong with today’s classroom model—and how to fix it[00:07:54] Inside a Modern Classroom: self-paced, human-centered learning[00:13:33] Paper beats screens—for fast, meaningful feedback[00:14:25] The power of personal: making your own instructional videos[00:17:46] Tech should amplify, not replace, teacher-student relationships[00:20:26] Why AI needs clearer use cases in classrooms[00:26:59] Chronic absenteeism demands a new instructional model[00:34:51] AI avatars: promising or uncanny? Rob weighs in[00:39:32] Rob’s new book Meet Every Learner’s Needs—a guide for redesigning instruction😎 Stay updated with Edtech Insiders! Follow our Podcast on:Apple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon MusicSign up for the Edtech Insiders newsletter.Follow Edtech Insiders on LinkedIn!🎉 Presenting Sponsor:This season of Edtech Insiders is once again brought to you by Tuck Advisors, the M&A firm for EdTech companies. Run by serial entrepreneurs with over 25 years of experience founding, investing in, and selling companies, Tuck believes you deserve M&A advisors who work as hard as you do.

Send us a textIn this special episode, EdTech Insiders hits the floor at ASU+GSV 2025—one of the world’s premier EdTech conferences—for rapid-fire conversations with the leaders reshaping learning. From AI-native campuses to multilingual agents and human-centered R&D, we go behind the scenes with the innovators driving the future of education.🎙️ Featured Guests:Siya Raj Purohit, Go-to-Market Lead for Education at OpenAI @ [00:01:25]Maureen Heymans, GM of LearnX at Google @ [00:19:16]Brandon Hurter, Chief Strategy Officer at Element451 @ [00:31:19]Auditi Chakravarty, CEO of AERDF @ [00:39:21]Jim Van Voorhis, VP of Education at Glean @ [00:45:09]Summer Long, Co-Founder & CMO of Cathoven AI @ [00:54:10]Yasmin Barkett, CEO and Founder of ROYO @ [01:02:47]Mike Yates, Senior Designer at Teach For America’s The Reinvention Lab @ [01:08:12]Julia Kelleher, Head of Market Development at WorldQuant Learning @ [01:18:09]Adele Smolansky, CEO and Founder of AI-Learners @ [01:25:08]🎥 Watch these Interviews on YouTube: LINK HERESpecial thanks to Matthew Millstein and his team at Old Soul for capturing all the video content live from the AI Show floor. 🙌😎 Stay updated with Edtech Insiders! Follow our Podcast on:Apple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon MusicSign up for the Edtech Insiders newsletter.Follow Edtech This season of Edtech Insiders is once again brought to you by Tuck Advisors, the M&A firm for EdTech companies. Run by serial entrepreneurs with over 25 years of experience founding, investing in, and selling companies, Tuck believes you deserve M&A advisors who work as hard as you do.

Send us a textTom Vander Ark is an advocate for innovations in learning. As CEO of Getting Smart, he advises schools, districts, networks, foundations, and learning organizations on the path forward. Tom is the author of Getting Smart, Smart Cities That Work for Everyone, Smart Parents, Better Together, The Power of Place, and Difference Making at the Heart of Learning. He has published thousands of articles and papers through GettingSmart.com and LinkedIn.Previously he launched one of the first edtech venture funds, was president of the X-Prize Foundation, served as the first Executive Director of Education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Tom served as a public school superintendent in Washington State and has extensive private sector experience. He serves on the board of Digital Learning Institute, Latinx Education Collaborative, Mastery Transcript Consortium, and Getting Smart Collective and advises schools, impact organizations and edtech startups.💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:Why education systems struggle to sustain innovationHow nonprofit governance supports lasting changeThe transformative potential of platform networksWhy AI shifts learning from preparation to contributionWhat keeps Tom optimistic about EdTech’s future✨ Episode Highlights:[00:04:50] From retail exec to education reformer—Tom’s origin story[00:07:03] Why governance challenges cause schools to revert to the mean[00:10:11] The rise of platform networks and their power to scale learning[00:14:48] AI and the shift from intelligence to agency in learning[00:16:15] High school as a launchpad for real-world contribution[00:21:01] “We’re automating bad pedagogy”—Tom on today’s AI tools[00:25:16] Bright spots: Watershed, Open School, and SparkNC[00:27:54] Tom’s advice to EdTech founders: “This is the most important work in the world”😎 Stay updated with Edtech Insiders! Follow our Podcast on:Apple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon MusicSign up for the Edtech Insiders newsletter.Follow Edtech Insiders on LinkedIn!🎉 Presenting Sponsor:This season of Edtech Insiders is once again brought to you by Tuck Advisors, the M&A firm for EdTech companies. Run by serial entrepreneurs with over 25 years of experience founding, investing in, and selling companies, Tuck believes you deserve M&A advisors who work as hard as you do.

Kees Bol, CEO of 2U, leads a company revolutionizing education technology by partnering with top universities for affordable learning. In this conversation, he dives into the importance of microcredentials and how they cater to reskilling demands. Bol discusses strategic acquisitions like edX, geared towards future-proofing education. He points out the transformative role of AI in both content delivery and operations, and introduces the idea of an 'Open Loop University,' promoting lifelong learning to thrive in today's job market.

Pierre Le Manh, the President and CEO of the Project Management Institute, shares his extensive experience in leading global organizations. He discusses how AI is revolutionizing project management, emphasizing the importance of upskilling and reskilling professionals. The conversation explores PMI's innovative approach to personalized learning formats and the unique challenges of managing AI projects versus traditional ones. Pierre also highlights the transformative potential of AI tools in enhancing collaboration and continuous education in the field.

Brent Bushnell, an innovative entrepreneur and engineer, is the founder of Two Bit Circus and chairman of the Two Bit Foundation, which promotes learning through play. He discusses his journey from arcade builder to education innovator and the impact of the STEAM Carnival in reshaping STEM education by incorporating art. Brent highlights how DIY arcade projects empower students in various skills like CAD and electronics, and he explores the potential of immersive technologies like virtual reality to transform learning experiences.

Annie Chechitelli, Chief Product Officer at Turnitin, and Sara Mauskopf, CEO of Winnie, join to discuss critical shifts in edtech. They explore the launch of AI-driven education in China and its implications for the U.S. Meanwhile, OpenAI teases a new creative writing model, while Gemini Canvas and Deep Research go free, revolutionizing educational tools. They dive into the ethical use of AI in academics and the rise of school choice, emphasizing how parents can make informed decisions in today's learning landscape.

In this engaging discussion, Lawton Smith, co-founder and CEO of Literal, a groundbreaking digital reading platform, sheds light on the alarming decline in reading scores among adolescents. He reveals how Literal transforms classic literature into interactive chat-based formats, making reading more relatable for today’s youth. Lawton shares his personal journey with reading and emphasizes the crucial role of AI in enhancing comprehension through tools like translation and rephrasing. The conversation highlights the importance of playful, personalized reading to rekindle a love for literature.