A San Diego adventure at the 15th Annual ASU+GSV Conference ('Here Comes the Sun...and AI') - PART 2
Rob Strulowitz, Managing Director
April 24, 2024
In our last post, we reflected upon the quick hit of AI innovation we received upon our arrival to the 15th Annual ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego. It was immediately apparent that this year's edition would be dominated by talk of artificial intelligence and its impact on what GSV calls 'Pre-K to Gray', with uncertainty as to where it all might land.
With seemingly an unending amount of edtech and learning technology conferences to choose from, the ASU+GSV Summit has become a conduit for industry trend predictions, new ways of thinking, showcasing innovation, and most importantly, networking. There simply is no better outlet for old-fashioned in-person connection.
In Part 2 of this Multi-Part series, we'll look back at ASU+GSV's Real Day 1, where a majority of the conference attendees had arrived, ready to be immersed in a sea of conference halls, meeting rooms, lobby conversations and outdoor walks along the San Diego Seaport.
MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2024
Properly rested and ready for the actual conference to begin, we ventured over to the Manchester Grand Hyatt where the bulk of the conference was being held. The buzz was immediate, with a flurry of activity in the lobby and filtering into The Landings Bar, where we would spend a majority of our time over the next few days.
At first, it's somewhat difficult to get a sense of audience and the overall themes and focus areas that would give conference attendees some direction in where to best spend their time. The overarching feeling that you get at ASU+GSV is the immense size of the Edtech industry which is so vast and ever intertwining, it can't possibly be packaged and segmented into an easily digestable format.
The conference agenda wasn't much help as there were numerous panels and talks we could attend, but chose to play in safe and sit in on the largest venue, the ASU+GSV Stage X Monday Breakfast which featured two really interesting talks.
In the first Higher Education panel "Aligning the Planets...Students Are From Mars, Universities Are From Venus", we learned more about the misalignment between what students want in 2024 and what universities actually offer. Moderated by Bridget Burns (CEO, The University Innovation Alliance), this session highlighted the need for educational models to adapt to rapid societal changes and evolving student demographics. The panelists advocated for integrating real-world economic needs into education, emphasizing innovation and adaptability in meeting the diverse needs of today’s students. Michael Sorrell (President, Paul Quinn College) said it best, "We love our students more than our traditions". It will be interesting to see how the Higher Ed market evolves with ripe opportunities for software providers to serve Higher Ed and a new breed of skills hungry micro-credential seeking students. (or both)
We caught the second panel, "AI and the Future of Education with Google DeepMind", where leaders of the Google DeepMind team explored how AI can personalize learning and provide immediate feedback in ways not imaginable a few years ago. The discussion led into a familiar terrain from our time in ethics and DEI...highlighting the need for responsible AI development and inclusivity to ensure that technology benefits everyone. Arena Jena (Google DeepMind) said "We need to think about how we apply this technology responsibly so that we reap the benefits while minimizing the risks." Sounds like ethics and compliance to us. We're projecting numerous opportunities in both the compliance and DEI markets to ensure this promise is met, which will continue to be an area of focus as AI continues to permeate society.
With our macro-trend appetite satisfied, we ventured through the large crowds to where we'd spend a majority of the afternoon - The Landings Bar at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. (ie MeetingCentral)
In The Landings Bar, currency is valued as an available table or couch which were in short supply. The bar was buzzing with activity of new meetings, high stakes deal making and emerging investment opportunities. We were fortunate to find a few couch seats and managed to connect with our private equity network in a series of half-hour meetings throughout the afternoon. So great to catch up in person with our private equity friends, an occurrence not frequent enough in our Zoom-driven culture of fake backgrounds and home office distractions.
We were reminded in real time and scale of private equity and venture capital's ongoing interest in the Education and Training sector. While 2023 was a down year in terms of Edtech investment, we are hearing that deal flow is picking up with more opportunities in the pipeline in 2024. Let's all hope the trend continues.
With our Monday meetings complete, we headed to Edtech Insiders ASU+GSV Happy Hour on the upstairs deck of The Brigadine Bar & Restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean and not far from the conference. We were fortunate to secure an invite to this packed event (thanks Ben Kornell!) and met with some great folks including:
Kyron Learning has integrated AI into its learning platform, allowing teachers to create a truly adaptive learning environment that responds in real-time to the needs of each student. We're seeing this as a common AI user case with many flavors. Great execution will continue to drive market adoption. The platform allows for a highly personalized educational journey, dynamically adjusting content and pacing to suit individual learning speeds and styles. Keep an eye on this company, seems like they are just getting started.
Stride (formerly K12 Inc) focuses on lifelong learning, a trend that we think will continue to become more mainstream as technology enables true disruption of traditional educational systems. We love their mission - "We serve learners, not students — a state of mind, not an age. Stride’s learning solutions meet the needs of learners at every stage of life." We believe that forward thinking entrepreneurs will look to extend this concept at the industry level across the learning spectrum as learners find their passion earlier in life and look to build brand relationships with learning providers across their lifetimes.
We ran into our new friends at Copper Wire Ventures (a New York based venture capital firm supporting female Edtech entrepreneurs) who were also en route to The Oxford Club for the Transatlantic Mixer: Euro Edtech VC hosted by Brighteye, Educapital, Emerge Education, Mediahuis Ventures, Sparkmind and Amanda Nolen.
We've been spending most of 2024 between North America and Europe, with a focus on getting a better feel in for the European Edtech market. We've been struck by the level of innovation, sophistication and business savvy of this community and inspired by many of the venture capitalists and edtech entrepreneurs that are driving the future of learning. It's a very different market than North Americans are used to, with regional cultural differences impacting go-to-market strategies for international expansion.
We loved learning more about Boclips, a London based digital platform that curates high quality content aligned to educational curriculum standards. We've always been bullish on high quality engaging content driving customer acquisition retention. Boclips has focused its content acquisition strategy on high quality curation which we think is a great play.
The Transatlantic Mixer was a blast with a truly inspiring group of people. Looking forward to getting to know this community better with our presence in Europe.
With another packed day ahead, we realized its on Monday....
Stay tuned for Part 3 of 3....
