Edtech Insiders

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...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Ben Kornell and Alex Sarlin as they explore the growing backlash against AI in education, the race to build AI-native learning systems, and the shifting future of edtech, workforce learning, and global education policy. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:02:18] Reflections and takeaways from this year’s ASU+GSV Summit [00:05:16] Gen Z backlash against AI grows at college commen...

Send us Fan Mail Jason Katcher is the Global Education Channel Lead at Superhuman , where he focuses on scaling AI-powered productivity and communication tools across education through strategic partnerships. Previously at Google, Dropbox, and multiple edtech startups, Jason brings deep experience in education technology, AI adoption, and go-to-market strategy. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Epi...

Send us Fan Mail Join host Ben Kornell for a special episode featuring leaders across digital literacy, AI-native schooling, student support, and curriculum innovation in K–12 education. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:02:10] Lisa O’Masta , CEO of Learning.com , on why digital literacy and AI literacy must start in elementary school [00:18:34] Aaron Feuer , CEO and Co-founder of Panorama Education , re...

Send us Fan Mail Kumar Garg is the President of Renaissance Philanthropy , where he leads thesis-driven philanthropic funds focused on major global challenges. Previously, he worked in the Obama White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and helped build Eric Schmidt’s science and tech initiatives. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:  How AI is projected to impact jobs, with forecas...

Send us Fan Mail Stephen Jull is the Global Head of AI and Educational Technology at Teach For All , leading efforts to connect educators with frontier AI labs. He’s joined by Maruf Hasan , a Bangladesh-based educator building AI tools in low-resource settings, and Sean McWeeney , a UK teacher focused on AI’s impact in high-need schools. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:  How teachers are...

Send us Fan Mail At the Kira 2.0 launch event in New York City, Sarah Morin captures rapid-fire insights from educators, administrators, and edtech leaders reacting in real time to one of the most ambitious AI learning platforms to date. 🎙️ Featuring insights from: Brandon Chitty , Executive Director of Innovations, Broken Arrow Public Schools Brett Roer , CEO & Founder, Amplify and Elevate In...

Send us Fan Mail Ted Dintersmith is an education advocate, author, and filmmaker who has spent the past 15 years working alongside educators to rethink what learning should look like in the modern world. He has visited more than 200 schools across all 50 states, listening to teachers and students and studying approaches that prepare young people for real life beyond tests. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn...

Send us Fan Mail Steve Tapp is the CEO of ACT , a leading nonprofit assessment organization best known for the ACT college admissions test. With over 30 years of experience in assessments across education, professional certification, and workforce testing, he previously led PSI Services and Lifelong Learner Holdings, helping scale global assessment platforms. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episo...

Send us Fan Mail Chase Rigby is the CEO of Tassel , a platform modernizing graduation experiences for universities worldwide. A former Google PM and Chief Product Officer at Canopy, his career sits at the intersection of education, technology, and product innovation. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode: Why graduation is a key (and overlooked) growth moment   How Tassel simplifies complex com...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Ben Kornell and guest co-host Matt Tower , as they break down the biggest stories shaping AI, edtech efficacy, cybersecurity, and the future of work in education. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:00:33] Rapid rise of AI-generated “vibe coding” raises concerns about software vulnerabilities and cybersecurity risks [00:02:44] ASU+GSV preview highlights the importance of relatio...

Send us Fan Mail Brandon Cardet-Hernandez is the Founder and CEO of Medley Learning , a platform building AI-powered scaffolding tools for multilingual learners. A former multilingual learner himself, Brandon has served as a teacher, turnaround principal, Boston School Committee member, NYC education advisor, and edtech leader. His work focuses on closing the access gap, not lowering expectations....

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Magdalena H. Gross of Mercor is a Stanford-trained scholar and a leader in AI education. With a unique ability to understand how people think, she helps experts translate deep human knowledge into AI-ready systems. She designs AI curricula and training programs that empower individuals and organizations, while also leading in community arts and muralism. Learn more about her w...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Ben Kornell and special co-host Steve Shapiro , Founder of Finetune. AI, as they break down the biggest stories shaping AI, workforce disruption, K–12 policy, and the future of higher education.  ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:05:10] NVIDIA signals the shift from AI experimentation to a full-scale platform “land grab” [00:08:19] Early signs of AI-driven productivity gains p...