Edtech Insiders

Tony Wan is Head of Platform at Reach Capital and co-founder and former managing editor of EdSurge . Betsy Corcoran is a writer, speaker, serial entrepreneur, and co-founder of EdSurge who explores AI and learning through her work and podcast, Future Fluent . 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode: How EdSurge helped shape the early edtech ecosystem. Why edtech needs more honest and nuanced stor...

Join hosts Ben Kornell and Alex Sarlin as they break down the biggest stories shaping educator confidence, tutoring, higher ed grading, AI models, education policy, and AI workforce development. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:02:47] Edtech Insiders heads to Teach For America’s 35th anniversary [00:05:19] HMH survey shows educator AI adoption reaches 80% [00:08:45] Varsity Tutors exits school-based tut...

Jomayra Herrera is a Partner at Reach Capital , an early-stage venture fund investing across learning, health, and work. Previously, she worked at Emerson Collective and Cowboy Ventures, investing in companies including Handshake, Guild, Contra, and Career Karma. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode: Why Reach Capital is doubling down on pre-seed and early-stage investing with its new $265M Fu...

Joy Delizo-Osborne is President and CEO of Student Achievement Partners , where she works to improve instructional quality and connect evidence-based practices with curriculum and edtech. A former teacher, instructional coach, and principal, Joy brings more than 20 years of experience in education. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode: How AI can support and not replace teachers and students....

Join hosts Ben Kornell and Alex Sarlin as they break down the biggest stories shaping higher education, AI adoption, school technology policy, and the future of learning. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:05:13] Higher ed leadership turnover accelerates amid political, financial, and AI pressures [00:11:00] OpenAI launches new AI tools for college students, professors, and K–12 educators [00:17:27] OpenA...

Edna Martinson is the Co-founder and COO of Boddle Learning , a gamified K–6 learning platform used by millions of students to build confidence in math, literacy, and science. She is passionate about combining great game design with research-backed learning experiences that teachers and students love. 💡 5 Things You'll Learn in This Episode Why Boddle was built to compete with video games. H...

Join hosts Ben Kornell and Alex Sarlin as they break down the biggest stories shaping AI, edtech investment, philanthropy, the future of work, and AI-powered learning. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:02:33] Bridges AI Summit brings district leaders together to discuss AI adoption, pilots, and edtech purchasing [00:05:19] Imagi raises $4.5M with backing from OpenAI, Lovable, Will.i.am, Kahoot!, and Elev...

Inside Columbia's First EdTech Showcase, Alex Sarlin sits down with the founders and leaders behind the inaugural Columbia EdTech Showcase to explore the startups, ideas, and innovations shaping the future of learning from AI-powered discussion tools to health education, learning science, and content curation. 🎙️ Featuring insights from: [00:01:56] Pete Novak , Founder, Columbians in EdTech [...

Drew Bent leads Education at Anthropic , where he oversees education initiatives including Claude for Teachers. A former math teacher, Khan Academy engineer, and co-founder of Schoolhouse.world, Drew focuses on applying AI to improve teaching and learning. Sandra Liu Huang is President of Learning Commons , where she leads the development of open AI datasets and learning science infrastructure for...

Julie Young is the Founding CEO of Florida Virtual School (FLVS) , where she helped pioneer online public education and expand access to millions of learners. She later founded ASU Prep Digital and is the author of Say Yes: How Virtual Became Reality , continuing to shape the future of student-centered learning. 💡 5 Things You'll Learn in This Episode  How Florida Virtual School grew from a...

Join hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell as they discuss the latest developments in education technology, from growing AI skepticism in schools and major policy shifts to Anthropic's education strategy and conversations with founders tackling literacy and AI tutoring. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:05:49] New York City pauses AI procurement across its school system [00:11:28] New study questions AI...

Michael Preston , Executive Director, Medha Tare , Senior Director of Research, and Liza Gak , Postdoctoral Fellow at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center , are leading researchers focused on child-centered educational technology. Together, they are helping edtech organizations design better products by combining learning science, participatory co-design, and thoughtful approaches to AI. 💡 5 Things You&ap...

Sue Khim is the Co-founder and CEO of Brilliant , the interactive learning platform that has helped millions of learners build deep understanding in math, science, and computer science. In this episode, she shares how Brilliant's new AI tutor, Koji, is designed to develop critical thinking rather than simply provide answers. 💡 5 Things You'll Learn in This Episode Why the best AI tutors...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Ben Kornell and Alex Sarlin as they cover major edtech acquisitions, the biggest AI announcements from ISTE, the future of assessment, and how AI is reshaping teaching and learning. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:04:15] ETS acquires ACT, reshaping the future of assessment and college admissions [00:08:02] Handshake acquires Uplimit to expand AI upskilling and workforce lear...

Send us Fan Mail Smita Saxena is the Founder of Maestro , an AI coaching platform helping K-12 STEM teachers improve instruction and student outcomes. Alexia Lewis is an 8th Grade Algebra I teacher at KIPP Polaris and a Maestro coach whose students achieved remarkable gains using the platform. 💡 5 Things You'll Learn  How AI coaching saves teachers hours every week.   Why human coaching + AI...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Alex Sarlin and special guest host Daniela Pico , Head of Platform at Forum Ventures , as they discuss the AI backlash, workforce transformation, AI literacy, social media regulation, and the evolving future of education technology. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:03:37] Anthropic launches a $150M Claude Core fellowship program for AI workforce development [00:09:09] Why org...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Alex Sarlin and special guest co-host Gemma Lenowitz Picot of Samvid Ventures as they break down the latest developments in AI, workforce development, edtech adoption, and education policy. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:03:26] OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic expand AI workforce training initiatives [00:10:30] Data center investments create new opportunities for workforce dev...

Send us Fan Mail Anthony Salcito is President & GM of Enterprise at Coursera , where he leads partnerships with enterprises, universities, and governments to build job-relevant skills at scale. Previously, he held leadership roles at Microsoft and Nerdy (Varsity Tutors), and has spent his career at the intersection of technology, education, and workforce development. 💡 5 Things You'll Le...

Send us Fan Mail George Siemens is the Chief AI & Innovation Officer at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) and one of the most influential learning theorists in modern education. He is the creator of Connectivism, co-creator of the first MOOC, and a leading voice on how AI is reshaping learning, higher education, and knowledge itself. 💡 5 Things You'll Learn in This Episode  How AI...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Alex Sarlin and special guest co-host Thomas Rodgers of Whiteboard Advisors as they explore the latest developments in AI, edtech policy, learning outcomes, cybersecurity, and the future of AI-powered education. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:03:39] Anthropic’s Claude Fable launch sparks discussion about the next generation of AI capabilities [00:09:07] Meta launches a work...

Send us Fan Mail In this special crossover episode, Edtech Insiders host Ben Kornell joins Allison Salisbury , author of The Humanist , for a wide-ranging conversation about AI, education, workforce development, and the future of learning. Together, they explore how AI could reshape assessment, personalized learning, school design, and the skills students will need to thrive in a rapidly changing...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Alex Sarlin and guest co-host Matt Tower of Whiteboard Advisors as they explore the latest developments in AI, workforce learning, edtech innovation, and literacy instruction. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:03:24] OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI prepare for potential IPOs [00:07:45] Anthropic surpasses OpenAI in valuation as enterprise AI adoption grows [00:08:59] Byju Raveendra...

Send us Fan Mail Lisa Gevelber is the founder and leader of Grow with Google , Google's economic opportunity initiative focused on helping people build skills, careers, and businesses. Through Google Career Certificates and AI training programs, she has helped millions of learners develop workforce-ready skills and navigate an increasingly AI-driven economy. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This E...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell as they discuss the growing backlash against AI and screen time in schools, the launch of a federal education tax credit, promising new evidence for AI-powered remediation, workforce disruption from AI, and the future of higher education with Noah Pickus of Duke University. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:03:40] AFT shifts its position on AI and s...

Send us Fan Mail Sam Olivieri is the CEO of and has spent more than two decades expanding educational opportunity through leadership roles at GreatSchools, Entangled Solutions, and Guild Education. Daniel Halper is Co-Founder of Step Up Tutoring and leads Step Up AI Labs, where he develops AI-powered tools that help novice tutors deliver high-impact instruction at scale. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn i...