Edtech Insiders

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Ben Kornell and Alex Sarlin, joined by special co-host Mike Palmer , host of Trending in Ed , as they break down the biggest stories shaping AI, K–12 policy, higher education, and the global future of education. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:03:34] SchoolAI study shows teachers using AI for reasoning and inquiry [00:09:58] Denver Public Schools blocks ChatGPT over safety a...

Send us Fan Mail Shangyup Kim is the CEO of ZEP QUIZ , the metaverse-based gamified K-12 learning platform. Built AI-driven tools that help teachers motivate students at scale and is expanding across Asia and the U.S. As a former ZEPETO leader, focusing on gamification, futuristic change, and education. Formerly built two Series B companies. Jangwoo Bae is the business developer of ZEP QUIZ, a for...

Send us Fan Mail John Gamba is Entrepreneur in Residence at Catalyst @ Penn GSE , where he mentors education entrepreneurs and leads the Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition. Over 17 years, the competition has awarded $2M to ventures that have gone on to raise more than $200M in follow-on funding, with a strong focus on equity and research-to-practice impact. The 2026 Milken-Penn GS...

Send us Fan Mail Nicole Jarbo is the CEO of 4.0 Schools , one of the nation’s leading platforms for early-stage education founders. A former KIPP teacher, Teach For America Corps member, and fintech founder, Nicole brings deep experience across classrooms, startups, philanthropy, and systems-level education change. She is also the host of the award-winning podcast Pitch Playground . 💡 5 Things Yo...

Send us Fan Mail Dora Palfi is the Co-founder and CEO of imagi , an edtech company reimagining computer science education through creative coding and AI. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Dora has a background in neuroscience, human-computer interaction, and technology, and is a passionate advocate for equitable access to future-ready skills. Special note: Free access to the Lovable × imagi collaborat...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell as they kick off 2026 with a wide-ranging Week in EdTech conversation covering tech backlash, AI in education, market consolidation, consumer learning tools, and major voices shaping the future of teaching and learning. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:00:00] Growing tech backlash around screen time, phone bans, and distrust of edtech. [00:03:55] P...

Send us Fan Mail Jamie Rosenberg is the Founder and Executive Chairman of ClassWallet , a fintech platform modernizing how public education funds are distributed to schools and families. A longtime social impact entrepreneur, he previously founded AdoptAClassroom.org and has spent over two decades focused on getting dollars closer to students. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode Why education...

Send us Fan Mail Henry Motte de la Motte is the Founder and CEO of EDGE Tutor , a global tutor outsourcing company supporting over 50 leading education and training organizations. Under his leadership, EDGE Tutor has scaled to 1,000+ teachers across 30+ countries, delivering millions of live tutoring sessions with a focus on quality, reliability, and human-centered learning. 💡 5 Things You’ll Lea...

Send us Fan Mail In Part 2 of our year-end reflections, Alex speaks with educators, founders, investors, and platform leaders about what 2026 may bring for AI and learning at scale. 🎙️ Featuring insights from: Shantanu Sinha , VP & GM, Google for Education Katie Kurtz , Managing Director & Global Head of Youth & Learning, YouTube Amit Patel , Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Owl Vent...

Send us Fan Mail Nolan Bushnell is the founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese and is widely known as the father of the video game industry. Dr. Leah Hanes is the CEO of ExoDexa , co-author of the ExoDexa Manifesto, and leads the Two Bit Circus Foundation, where she has impacted over 460,000 students through game-based and project-based learning. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode: Why traditio...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Alex Sarlin, Ben Kornell, Michael Horn and Dhawal Shah as they break down major moves in online learning, AI, and higher education shaping the end of 2025. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:00:00] Coursera and Udemy announce a $2.5B all-stock merger forming a 175M-learner platform [00:00:30] Michael Horn on Coursera’s growing leverage over university partners [00:02:08] Ben Ko...

Send us Fan Mail 2025 was a defining year for AI in education. From rapid adoption to rising educator confidence and growing questions about what comes next. In Part 1 of our year-end reflections and predictions, Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell revisit their 2025 reflections and look ahead to what 2026 may bring for EdTech, AI, and the future of learning. 🎙️ Featuring insights from: Tom Vander Ark , F...

Send us Fan Mail Rene Kizilcec is an Associate Professor at Cornell University, where he directs the Cornell Future of Learning Lab and leads the National Tutoring Observatory . His research focuses on learning science, AI in education, and the behavioral and computational factors that shape student success. His work has appeared in Science , PNAS , and other top journals. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Alex Sarlin, Ben Wallerstein, and Matt Tower for Week in Edtech, exploring OpenAI’s teacher certifications, kids’ online safety legislation, early literacy declines, college admissions pressures, and what remains irreplaceable in education as AI advances. ✨ Episode Highlights [00:03:00] OpenAI launches teacher certifications, expanding into K–12 [00:05:00] Big Tech cre...

Send us Fan Mail This special EdTech Insiders episode, recorded live at the World Schools Summit in Abu Dhabi, spotlights the Global EdTech Prize winners and finalists sharing how they’re scaling impact across K–12 learning, teacher AI workflows, and digital skills worldwide. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode: Abwaab’s AI-driven grading and human coaching model. Brisk’s rapid global growth...

Send us Fan Mail Charlie Hopkins-Brinicombe is the co-founder of Trophy.so , a gamification infrastructure platform helping EdTech and wellness companies build engaging learning experiences in weeks, not months. With a background in product development and motivation design, Charlie focuses on creating scalable systems that boost retention, habit formation, and learner satisfaction. 💡 5 Things Yo...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell as they break down the biggest shifts in global edtech. From PhysicsWallah’s major IPO to Google–OpenAI competition, higher-ed adoption of AI, and new benchmarks shaping the future of learning.  ✨ Episode Highlights [00:07:00] PhysicsWallah’s IPO reshapes Indian edtech and signals renewed global momentum [00:15:00] Google and OpenAI escalate...

Send us Fan Mail Frank Wu is the Co-founder of Aibrary and a Harvard Kennedy School MPP graduate. He led 20+ edtech and AI investments at TAL, helped build Think Academy in the U.S., and previously taught 3M+ students. Susan Wang is the Chief Growth Officer at Aibrary and a Yale and Harvard Business School alum. She led creator and product operations at TikTok and worked in strategy at TAL, with d...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Sonia Tiwari is a Children's Media Researcher focused on how characters shape learning experiences. With a background spanning animation, game design, and a PhD in Learning Design & Technology, she advises edtech and media companies on ethical, developmentally aligned character design. Her work has been featured at Stanford, Harvard, MIT, UNICEF, and the National Geog...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Sarah Johnson is the CEO and President of Teaching Lab and Relay Graduate School of Education, leading their AI-enabled product innovation and educator preparation initiatives. She is joined by Teaching Lab Studio fellows: Riz Malik , creator of Coteach , a curriculum-aligned AI assistant for math teachers; Gautam Thapar , CEO of Enlighten AI , a personalized AI grading and fe...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell as they break down OpenAI’s unexpected launch of ChatGPT for K–12, Google’s accelerating AI momentum, and what these shifts mean for schools, teachers, and the edtech ecosystem. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:02:03] OpenAI unveils ChatGPT for K–12 educators—secure, curriculum-aware, and free through 2027 [00:03:02] The emerging AI Classroom Wars...

Send us Fan Mail This special on-site episode of Edtech Insiders was recorded live at the Google AI for Learning Forum in London on November 14, 2024, where we sat down with leaders shaping Google’s next generation of learning tools, including Shantanu Sinha , VP of Google for Education, Tal Oppenheimer , Product Management Director, Google Labs & Learning, Julia Wilkowski , Pedagogy & Lea...

Send us Fan Mail Brandon Busteed is the CEO of Edconic and a nationally recognized leader in work-integrated learning. Formerly President of Kaplan University Partners and Head of Education & Workforce Development at Gallup, he has spent his career building bridges between higher education and industry through research, innovation, and large-scale partnerships. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell as they unpack the breakthroughs and backlash following the Google DeepMind AI for Learning Forum in London—and what it means for the future of edtech. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:03:30] Google DeepMind’s AI for Learning Forum sets a new global tone for learning innovation [00:06:58] Google’s “Learn Your Way” tool personalizes entire textbooks...

Send us Fan Mail This special EdTech Insiders episode features the four Shark Tank winners from EdTech Week. Each founder shares how their breakthrough approach is transforming learning, teaching, and workforce development across K–12, higher education, and global training environments. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode: Lirvana Labs’ multilingual, trauma-informed AI companion. Socrait’s vo...