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Join hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell as they explore the latest developments in education technology, from AI in classrooms to workforce shifts and EdTech innovation across the globe.

✨ Episode Highlights:

[00:03:16] Ezra Klein podcast brings AI and education to mainstream conversation
[00:07:20] Alex and Ben compare and critique GPT-4, Claude, Gemini, and other AI tools
[00:09:28] Utah emerges as a leading hub for EdTech startups and innovation
[00:12:21] New AI bundles help educators explore tools like Superhuman and Perplexity
[00:13:19] Surge in media coverage on cheating, lawsuits, and educator use of AI
[00:16:17] Lawsuit filed against professor for using AI-generated content in class
[00:18:00] Concerns grow about students using AI tools to bypass cognitive learning
[00:23:10] Direct-to-student AI sparks debate about academic integrity and design
[00:25:20] Google plans to roll out Gemini to students under 13
[00:29:41] AI enables hands-on science learning like virtual frog dissections
[00:33:43] AI compared to electricity as foundational infrastructure for the future
[00:36:09] Rising youth unemployment signals early impact of AI-driven disruption
[00:38:57] Major firms lay off workers while shifting strategy toward AI adoption
[00:40:34] EdTech must define and prepare students for new AI-native job roles

Plus, special guest:

[00:41:22] Sam Chaudhary, Co-founder & CEO of ClassDojo on tutoring, gamified learning, and community building

😎 Stay updated with Edtech Insiders!

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🎉 Presenting Sponsor/s:

This season of Edtech Insiders is brought to you by Starbridge. Every year, K-12 districts and higher ed institutions spend over half a trillion dollars—but most sales teams miss the signals. Starbridge tracks early signs like board minutes, budget drafts, and strategic plans, then helps you turn them into personalized outreach—fast. Win the deal before it hits the RFP stage. That’s how top edtech teams stay ahead.

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.

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This is a very special episode featuring our sponsor, Starbridge. Justin Wenig, Founder and CEO of Starbridge, joins us to discuss how school spending creates barriers to EdTech innovation. Justin previously co-founded Coursedog, scaling it to over 300 institutions and a nine-figure exit. With Starbridge, he’s now helping EdTech businesses navigate public sector procurement using AI to identify and close their best-fit leads.

💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:

1. Why broken procurement processes are blocking EdTech innovation.
2. The “illusion of competition” in RFPs and how incumbents stay ahead.
3. The hidden rules of public sector procurement.
4. Practical go-to-market strategies for EdTech startups trying to break through.
5. How AI is reshaping sales, procurement, and personalization in EdTech.

✨ Episode Highlights:

[00:05:16] The hidden “unwritten rules” of school purchasing that keep new companies out.
[00:13:17] Why most RFPs aren’t competitive and how this harms innovation.
[00:23:26] Justin’s blueprint for redesigning the school procurement system.
[00:29:50] How Starbridge uses AI to help EdTech companies find and close the right leads.
[00:34:48] The future of sales: AI-powered outreach vs. human relationship building.
[00:43:09] Can AI finally bring fairness and transparency to public sector purchasing?

😎 Stay updated with Edtech Insiders!

• Follow our Podcast on:
  • Apple Podcasts
  • Spotify
  • Amazon Music
• Sign up for the Edtech Insiders newsletter.
• Follow Edtech Insiders on LinkedIn!

🎉 Presenting Sponsor/s:

This season of Edtech Insiders is brought to you by Starbridge. Every year, K-12 districts and higher ed institutions spend over half a trillion dollars—but most sales teams miss the signals. Starbridge tracks early signs like board minutes, budget drafts, and strategic plans, then helps you turn them into personalized outreach—fast. Win the deal before it hits the RFP stage. That’s how top edtech teams stay ahead.

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 text

MacKenzie Price is a Stanford grad, mom of two, and the Co-Founder of 2 Hour Learning - a revolutionary learning platform that harnesses the power of AI to give kids a 1:1 personalized learning experience. Her students excel in academics while spending most of their day learning life skills that set them up for future success. She founded the first Alpha School ten years ago in Austin, Texas and now has eight schools, with others opening in the fall.

💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:

1. Why motivation is the missing key in EdTech.
2. How AI enables personalized, mastery-based learning.
3. The new role of teachers as motivational guides.
4. How to build life skills alongside academics.
5. What’s next for AI in education—and why it’s exciting.

✨ Episode Highlights:

[00:03:19] MacKenzie on Founding Alpha Schools to create a better model for her own children.
[00:06:36] Why tech alone can’t drive student success without human connection.
[00:12:54] How Alpha Schools deliver two hours of academics and a full day of life skills.
[00:21:56] Teachers become motivational coaches, not just content experts.
[00:28:11] The power of AI to connect learning with students’ passions.
[00:38:05] Rethinking assessments: AI makes feedback immediate and actionable.

😎 Stay updated with Edtech Insiders!

• Follow our Podcast on:
  • Apple Podcasts
  • Spotify
  • Amazon Music
• Sign up for the Edtech Insiders newsletter.
• Follow Edtech Insiders on LinkedIn!

🎉 Presenting Sponsor/s:

This season of Edtech Insiders is brought to you by Starbridge. Every year, K-12 districts and higher ed institutions spend over half a trillion dollars—but most sales teams miss the signals. Starbridge tracks early signs like board minutes, budget drafts, and strategic plans, then helps you turn them into personalized outreach—fast. Win the deal before it hits the RFP stage. That’s how top edtech teams stay ahead.

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 text

Join hosts Ben Kornell and Alex Sarlin as they explore the latest developments in education technology, from AI breakthroughs and policy shakeups to new funding rounds and workforce shifts shaping the future of learning.

✨ Episode Highlights:

[00:00:00] Silicon Valley debates the rise of “AI Slop” and the impact of vibe coding.
[00:03:36] Columbia student suspended for AI cheating tool raises $5.3M to commercialize it.
[00:04:56] Anthropic’s Drew Bent explains why code literacy now means editing AI-generated code.
[00:08:09] 200 CEOs and Code.org push for mandatory AI classes in high school.
[00:11:13] Federal government’s role in AI education policy under debate.
[00:14:04] Duolingo plans to replace contract workers with AI, triggering backlash.
[00:20:42] Higher ed faces political attacks; Harvard and Columbia push back.
[00:23:32] K-12 faces teacher shortages and $4.5B in proposed federal funding cuts.
[00:35:21] Google’s AI Overviews cut search click-through rates by 34.5%.

Plus, special guests:

[00:36:08] Brian Malkin, Co-Founder & CEO of Rang, on rewards programs to improve K-12 attendance.
[00:50:29] John Marshall, CEO of BrainFreeze, on AI safety and transparency in schools.
[01:12:31] Scott Nadzan, Vice President of Product Marketing and Strategic Communications at Panopto, on AI-generated video and the Elai acquisition.

😎 Stay updated with Edtech Insiders!

• Follow our Podcast on:
  • Apple Podcasts
  • Spotify
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• Sign up for the Edtech Insiders newsletter.
• Follow Edtech Insiders on LinkedIn!

🎉 Presenting Sponsor/s:

This season of Edtech Insiders is brought to you by Starbridge. Every year, K-12 districts and higher ed institutions spend over half a trillion dollars—but most sales teams miss the signals. Starbridge tracks early signs like board minutes, budget drafts, and strategic plans, then helps you turn them into personalized outreach—fast. Win the deal before it hits the RFP stage. That’s how top edtech teams stay ahead.

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 text

Mike Yates is a Senior Designer at Teach for America's Reinvention Lab, with over a decade of experience at the intersection of technology and learning. A former classroom teacher and founding member of Alpha School, he now leads the Lab’s AI initiatives, creating workshops, coaching educators, and prototyping innovative AI solutions. Mike has built partnerships with organizations like Playlab AI, Google, and Snapchat, and remains dedicated to helping educators navigate the future of learning through practical, human-centered approaches.

💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:

1. Why teachers don’t need to “speak Silicon Valley” to embrace AI.
2. How AI hackathons and poetry slams are making AI learning more human and fun.
3. The concept of “AI Dexterity” and why it’s critical for future-ready educators.
4. How rebel educators are building their own AI tools to solve real classroom problems.
5. Why sometimes the best AI training happens on a plane or at a coffee shop!

✨ Episode Highlights:

[00:01:08] Mike Yates’ journey from TFA rejection to leading its AI initiatives
[00:04:45] What teachers really want from AI—and why most solutions miss the mark
[00:07:28] AI at the human level: “You don’t have to speak Tech Bro to get on this train"
[00:14:05] From poetry slams to fashion design—creative ways educators are learning AI
[00:18:30] How rebel teachers are building their own EdTech tools after budget cuts
[00:23:37] Why AI as a trickster and debate partner makes learning more fun
[00:26:59] A sneak peek at the Reinvention Lab’s new initiative: Arcade AI

😎 Stay updated with Edtech Insiders!

• Follow our Podcast on:
  • Apple Podcasts
  • Spotify
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• Sign up for the Edtech Insiders newsletter.
• Follow Edtech Insiders on LinkedIn!

🎉 Presenting Sponsor:

This season of Edtech Insiders is brought to you by Starbridge. Every year, K-12 districts and higher ed institutions spend over half a trillion dollars—but most sales teams miss the signals. Starbridge tracks early signs like board minutes, budget drafts, and strategic plans, then helps you turn them into personalized outreach—fast. Win the deal before it hits the RFP stage. That’s how top edtech teams stay ahead.

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 text

Join host Alex Sarlin alongside special guest co-hosts Ben Wallerstein and Anna Kimsey Edwards, Co-Founders of Whiteboard Advisors, as they break down:

[00:03:00] Trump’s AI Executive Order launches cross-agency education task force
[00:05:00] 27 states already advancing AI education policy
[00:07:00] Workforce EO targets 1M AI-related apprenticeships
[00:10:00] Accreditation EO pushes competition and student outcomes
[00:14:00] “Beyond Degrees” report urges non-degree pathways
[00:21:00] Edtech funding hits record low in Q1 and Q2, says HolonIQ
[00:23:00] ESSER cliff and political uncertainty stall school spending
[00:28:00] Falling enrollment squeezes K-12 budgets nationwide
[00:30:00] Duolingo adds 150 AI-generated cross-language courses
[00:30:45] Google Audio Overview now available in 50 languages
[00:31:00] Panorama acquires AI writing tool Class Companion, Kollegio raises seed round for AI college advising
[00:32:30] Anthropic forecasts AI-only employees within a year
[00:36:00] Israel announces national rollout of AI tutors in schools

Plus, special guests:

[00:36:45] Anna Iarotska, CEO & Co-founder of Robo Wunderkind, unveils the first K–5 AI Literacy Curriculum
[00:50:55] Julia Dixon, Founder & CEO of ESAI, reflects on her Shark Tank debut and democratizing admissions advising
[01:02:00] Tigran Sloyan, Co-Founder & CEO of CodeSignal, shares how TED Talks are becoming interactive learning journeys

😎 Stay updated with Edtech Insiders!

• Follow our Podcast on:
  • Apple Podcasts
  • Spotify
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• Sign up for the Edtech Insiders newsletter.
• Follow Edtech Insiders on LinkedIn!

🎉 Presenting Sponsor:

This season of Edtech Insiders is brought to you by Starbridge. Every year, K-12 districts and higher ed institutions spend over half a trillion dollars—but most sales teams miss the signals. Starbridge tracks early signs like board minutes, budget drafts, and strategic plans, then helps you turn them into personalized outreach—fast. Win the deal before it hits the RFP stage. That’s how top edtech teams stay ahead.

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 text

Betsy Corcoran and Dr. Jeremy Roschelle co-host the Future Fluent podcast, where they explore how learning is changing in the age of AI. Betsy is the cofounder of EdSurge and now leads Lede Labs, advising education leaders. Jeremy is a leading learning scientist and Executive Director of Learning Science Research at Digital Promise. Together, they bring decades of journalism and research experience to their shared mission: redefining literacy and learning in a world transformed by AI.

💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:

1. What “future fluency” means in the age of AI
2. Why social connection is central to learning with AI
3. How AI can empower generalist educators and students
4. The importance of co-designing tools with teachers
5. What deep knowledge—not just critical thinking—requires today

✨ Episode Highlights:

[00:04:00] Launching Future Fluent: a podcast to ask better questions about AI and learning
[00:07:00] Literacy redefined: engaging with the world through many channels
[00:09:00] Mike Yates' AI poetry experiment builds confidence in creativity
[00:13:00] Using AI to support comprehension for young readers
[00:19:00] Post-COVID lesson: data proves teachers’ impact
[00:25:00] AI can’t replace deep knowledge or human insight
[00:30:00] Playlab AI helps generalist teachers act like specialists
[00:33:00] Colorado students use AI to create a voter guide chatbot
[00:36:00] Re-centering AI on human flourishing, not machine potential
[00:42:00] Real co-design starts with real educator problems

😎 Stay updated with Edtech Insiders!

• Follow our Podcast on:
  • Apple Podcasts
  • Spotify
  • Amazon Music
• Sign up for the Edtech Insiders newsletter.
• Follow Edtech Insiders on LinkedIn!

🎉 Presenting Sponsor:

This season of Edtech Insiders is brought to you by Starbridge. Every year, K-12 districts and higher ed institutions spend over half a trillion dollars—but most sales teams miss the signals. Starbridge tracks early signs like board minutes, budget drafts, and strategic plans, then helps you turn them into personalized outreach—fast. Win the deal before it hits the RFP stage. That’s how top edtech teams stay ahead.

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 text

In this special episode, we go behind the scenes of the Edtech Insiders GenAI K-12 Education Market Map, a first-of-its-kind framework connecting real classroom needs to AI-powered tools. Co-created by Alex Sarlin, Laurence Holt, Jacob Klein, and the Edtech Insiders team, this evolving resource helps educators, entrepreneurs, and researchers make sense of a fast-changing landscape.

💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:

1. Why the GenAI Education Map focuses on pedagogy and learning needs over tools
2. How to identify "white space" opportunities for AI in education
3. What makes AI feedback and teacher coaching some of the most promising use cases today
4. How to move beyond the 5% of students typically served by EdTech
5. Why "team teaching with AI" might be the next big frontier

✨ Episode Highlights:

[00:02:36] Holt & Klein introduce the origin story of the Generative AI Use Case Map
[00:03:29] Starting with teaching and learning needs, not tech capabilities
[00:06:03] Why learning science and research-backed practices still aren't reaching scale
[00:11:11] How and why the GenAI Map was built as a living, evolving framework
[00:15:20] Imagining “team teaching” between human educators and AI assistants
[00:20:16] The 5–10% problem: Why most EdTech tools miss the broader population
[00:23:18] Personalization, motivation, and redefining what success in school can look like
[00:30:05] From tool overload to comprehensive suites: the shifting EdTech landscape
[00:34:12] AI-enabled feedback loops that support both teachers and learners
[00:39:00] What’s ready for scale now—and what still needs real breakthroughs
[00:44:55] Risks and red flags: from dopamine loops to student dependence on AI
[00:48:35] Will GenAI in education be incremental or transformative?

😎 Stay updated with Edtech Insiders!

• Follow our Podcast on:
  • Apple Podcasts
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• Sign up for the Edtech Insiders newsletter.
• Follow Edtech Insiders on LinkedIn!

🎉 Presenting Sponsors:

This season of Edtech Insiders is brought to you by Starbridge. Every year, K-12 districts and higher ed institutions spend over half a trillion dollars—but most sales teams miss the signals. Starbridge tracks early signs like board minutes, budget drafts, and strategic plans, then helps you turn them into personalized outreach—fast. Win the deal before it hits the RFP stage. That’s how top edtech teams stay ahead.

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.