Can AI help kids learn?
That was the question on my mind last year when I reconnected with Samir, a longtime friend and veteran technology leader. To find out, we built a simple homework‑checking app and released it in November 2025.
What we saw was encouraging. While AI chatbots were making it easier for students to skip the thinking, our app was prompting kids like my 4th grader to think harder. She showed her work on paper, with more precision and more revision. And because the app was the referee, she didn’t have to wait for me to flag her mistakes. Instead, I could spend that time by her side as a coach.
Instead of shortcutting her learning, the AI was helping me support it, with less screen time and more connection.
We were onto something. So we turned to another place I know and love: schools. My 15 years of teaching and leading left me with deep respect for the work. But most days, I was barely staying afloat. Grading I couldn’t finish. Kids waiting for feedback. Teachers waiting for coaching. For many educators, this becomes the norm.
Teaching is complex, and the school day is a whirlwind with important curricula, systems, and relationships all competing for attention. It’s often hard to see the right next step, much less find time to take it.
So it meant a lot when Mohamad, a leader in Houston, told us six weeks after rolling out Co‑Teacher across his school:
“Teachers walk into small groups with a clear misconception to address, and that clarity for teachers creates clarity for kids.”
That’s what we’re after: clarity that saves educators time, helps them grow toward mastery of their craft, and challenges kids to think hard, off screen, in community with their peers and teachers. It’s a different vision from 1:1 AI tutors. But it’s the one Samir and I want for our own kids, and the one I wish I could have offered every student I’ve taught.
In schools from Miami and Houston to Boston and southern Indiana, we’re building Co‑Teacher alongside other educators who see AI’s potential but want a hand in shaping it to fit their schools. If that’s you too, join us in bringing more clarity to every classroom.
Ian
October 2026
