This edtech founder says better learning leads to better lives

Michael Chasen discusses the importance of personalised learning and the exciting trends emerging in edtech.

Michael Chasen is a co-founder and former CEO of edtech platform Blackboard and the founder and CEO of Class, a virtual classroom for learning and development. Having spent the majority of his professional life at the frontier of the edtech space, he is firmly of the opinion that “better learning leads to better lives”.

But building a culture where people enjoy and embrace research and learning, particularly in the workforce, takes time, persistence and above all else a well thought-out strategy.  

“It’s absolutely critical,” explained Chasen. “If your workforce is standing still, your company is falling behind. The skills gap is real and it’s only widening. But it’s not just about keeping up, it’s about keeping people growing.”

He said that employees naturally want to feel as though they and their careers are being invested in and that there is a clear path forward towards their own professional ambitions. 

The failure to address this can result in valuable, hardworking employees choosing to leave. So if employers are serious about retaining key workers, modern, continuous learning opportunities must be made available in ways that are flexible, relevant and engaging to the workforce. “That’s what keeps top talent from walking out the door,” he said. 

The right mentality

Having had the opportunity to oversee large cross-functional research and development teams throughout his career, Chasen has experience in a broad array of areas, for example in user behaviour, cloud infrastructure, and AI and education, to name a few.  

Which is a way of saying that to develop a culture of continuous learning, where teams are encouraged to embrace upskilling, the person above them needs to lead by example and have a bank of hard and soft skills ready to deploy where needed.

People in leadership roles must possess a sense of curiosity, strive for clarity and prioritise alignment, Chasen said. 

By its very nature, you won’t always foresee where your work is going to lead, so a curious mind, coupled with a clear focus enables a strong leader to connect the dots of business impact, user outcome and overall goals. 

“The best research teams work closely with product, engineering and even marketing.

“Great ideas die in silos. My job is to break those silos down and keep everyone rowing in the same direction.”

And for Chasen, that direction is very much future focused. Employees should make use of any and all opportunities to upskill in the area of artificial intelligence (AI), he said, as it is the “biggest gamechanger in workplace research, training and learning”. 

“At Class, we’re using AI to help instructors spot disengaged learners and give them actionable tools to bring those learners back into the fold. We’re also excited about what immersive environments like VR/AR might bring to workplace training.”

However, he feels that success in the edtech space is not just about the newfangled technologies. Rather, it is about making learning a more human, personal and impactful experience.

“The future is in combining real-time human interaction with intelligent systems that enhance, not replace that experience,” he said. 

Future of edtech

As we move further into 2025, Chasen is of the opinion that there will be a greater focus on deploying soft skills in STEM roles, with professionals and employers valuing abilities in communication, collaboration and critical thinking. “Technical skills get your foot in the door, but soft skills move you up the ladder.

“Another trend is the shift toward just-in-time, applied learning. People don’t want to sit through long modules anymore. They want to learn something specific, apply it, and move on. 

“And companies are investing more in understanding the ROI of learning, that means looking at engagement data, completion rates and performance outcomes to guide strategy.”

There is also a place at the table for on-demand learning, he said, which is the ability to access training and learning materials virtually anywhere at any time, particularly for teams and organisations looking for greater flexibility and scale. But it isn’t the whole answer.

“Too often, we think of learning as something you do alone, in your own time, at your own pace,” he explained. “But the reality is most people learn better together. The future isn’t just on demand, it’s on demand with impact.

“We’re at a fascinating moment. We’re rethinking how we learn, how we work and how we grow. And that makes this one of the most exciting and important times to be building technology in the learning space. I feel incredibly lucky to be part of that journey and I can’t wait to see where it goes next.”

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