Hello, I’m Emil Reisser-Weston, and I’m delighted to share some insights from a recent conversation on the Future of EdTech Podcast. If you enjoy delving into the evolving landscape of learning, technology, and human potential, do consider liking and subscribing to our channel for more thought-provoking discussions.
In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Andy Ayim MBE, an entrepreneur, investor, educator, and the visionary founder of the Angel Investing School. Andy’s work is profoundly shaping access to investment knowledge, empowering individuals to thrive in the dynamic startup ecosystem. His career journey, spanning product leadership, venture investing, and advising founders across technology, offers a truly unique lens through which to view the future of learning.
Andy has worked with global organisations like Google, Tesco, and Novartis, consistently championing human-centred leadership, inclusion, and unlocking potential. Recognised with an MBE for his contributions to business and inclusive leadership, Andy brings an invaluable perspective on what it truly takes for people to flourish in our rapidly changing world.
But what exactly were the key moments, experiences, or lessons that shaped Andy’s remarkable journey to where he is today?
Andy’s story begins with a simple yet profound superpower: curiosity. Growing up, this innate curiosity led him to explore culture, business, and music, culminating in his first music startup at just 21. This same curiosity propelled him to backpack across South America, an experience that, while initially foreign to his friends, taught him a vital lesson: humanity shares far more in common than what divides us. This global perspective deeply influenced his later product career, where he shaped offerings for a diverse international audience. It was this foundational curiosity that ultimately paved his path into venture capital, investing in early-stage startups, and eventually earning him an MBE for his significant contributions to the UK technology sector.
Key Takeaways from Our Conversation:
Curiosity as a Superpower: Andy’s journey highlights how innate curiosity drives individuals beyond their comfort zones, leading to profound learning and growth.
Hiring Philosophy: Prioritise values, then growth potential, and finally skills, challenging traditional recruitment approaches.
Human Skills in the AI Era: Live experiences, human connection, discernment, judgment, innovation, and creativity become increasingly valuable as AI advances.
Personalised Learning: EdTech must evolve beyond generic content to offer tailored learning journeys, understanding individual objectives and prior knowledge.
AI as an Augmenter: AI’s role is to assist, augment, add to, or integrate with human capabilities, not to replace critical human decision-making.
Teaching Soft Skills: AI-powered role-play and feedback can effectively teach and refine essential “soft skills” like confidence, communication, and emotional intelligence.
Practical Experience is Crucial: While EdTech can educate, real-world, practical experience remains indispensable for true competency development.
Social Learning & Community: Learning is inherently social; community networks and dialogue significantly enhance learning outcomes and drive behaviour change.
The Next Frontier for EdTech: Integrating learning into social-first, chat-based interfaces within existing daily workflows for greater usability and accessibility.
AI and Inequality: Without thoughtful regulation and a coordinated global effort, AI risks widening wealth inequality due to capitalistic incentives.
EdTech’s Role in Equity: Democratising access to education, skills, and opportunities through tailored, affordable, and easily accessible learning resources.
The Evolving Landscape of Human Skills in an AI-Driven World
As AI becomes increasingly capable, which human skills do you think are now becoming more valuable?
Andy passionately argues that the advancement of AI has, paradoxically, elevated the value of “live experiences.” As we record this during the World Cup, people are flocking back to live sport, theatre, and in-person workshops. The irreplaceable human connection and interaction, the trust-building that occurs face-to-face, remains a fundamental skill. Beyond connection, discernment and judgment are paramount. AI can inform us based on historical data, but the ability to make an informed decision by synthesising data from various sources – AI, podcasts, reading, courses – remains a uniquely human skill. AI acts as an assistant, not the decision-maker. Similarly, innovation and creativity, exemplified by visionaries like Steve Jobs, don’t arise from studying historical databases (which is what AI excels at). To create the future, we must “fail forward,” not just look backwards. Understanding this distinction is crucial when working with AI, rather than simply using it as a substitute for critical human thought.
Adapting EdTech for Human-Centred Development
Given this shift, how can EdTech evolve to help learners develop these uniquely human capabilities, moving beyond the old style of simply delivering content?
Andy highlights two critical areas for EdTech evolution. Firstly, the need for personalised learning journeys. A traditional, “dumb” Learning Management System (LMS) assumes everyone is at the same stage and needs the same content. This is a fundamental flaw. EdTech must intelligently understand individual learning objectives, prior knowledge, and context to piece together specific, tailored content. AI can powerfully assist in this, but it requires an initial diagnostic to truly understand the user and their optimal learning path. Secondly, while general Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT or Gemini are broad, the real value lies in vertical-specific AI applications. For instance, in law or accounting, we want an accountable human expert, not a general AI, making critical decisions. AI can support, but human judgment, especially in high-stakes fields, remains essential. This means EdTech solutions need to leverage AI to create highly specific, context-aware learning experiences that support, rather than replace, human expertise.
Teaching the “Soft Skills” with Technology
So, how can we concretely teach skills such as communication, confidence, and emotional intelligence – these vital human elements – within EdTech?
Andy offers a compelling example: imagine a graduate preparing for a job interview. They can practice with AI, answering common questions. The AI, drawing from a vast database of thousands of interviews, can then provide objective feedback on their communication and confidence, highlighting areas for improvement. This isn’t about replacing their personal story, but helping them articulate it with greater impact. Confidence-building techniques – breathing exercises, affirmations, visualisation – are all teachable and practicable, even before human interaction. EdTech can play a crucial role here, especially in addressing unemployment by making graduates interview-ready.
However, Andy also raises a critical point: we must ensure that EdTech doesn’t inadvertently encourage gaming the system. If 70% of video interview submissions are near-identical because candidates simply copied and pasted questions into ChatGPT, we lose authenticity. The human element, the desire for genuine expression, must augment AI practice. This is where tools like the Open eLMS Learning Generator truly shine. Imagine creating AI-powered role-play scenarios that not only test verbal communication but also provide feedback on body language, facial gestures, and overall presence. This dynamic, practice-based learning, moving beyond simple “next click” content, is how EdTech can truly foster human skills. Our platform empowers organisations to rapidly create bespoke, interactive content, including gamification and video, ensuring that learning is not just consumed but actively experienced and applied.
Bridging the Gap: EdTech, Experience, and Society
Given the undeniable need for practical experience, how does society and organisations overcome the challenge of providing meaningful active work experience for young talent in an AI-driven world, especially when companies might be cutting back on junior roles?
Andy uses a powerful analogy: you can read every baseball textbook, but until you’re on the field, holding the bat, you’ll never truly know what it feels like to play. The same applies to work. While EdTech can educate, practical experience is indispensable. The challenge is particularly acute in regions like Africa, where talent may be highly educated but lack opportunities for practical application within their countries. Andy envisions a future where EdTech facilitates “satellite labs” or virtual practical experiences, allowing individuals in underserved regions to gain hands-on skills in a remote, assisted environment. This requires government involvement, akin to investing in fundamental infrastructure like roads and railways, to nurture talent pipelines for long-term economic gain. It’s about democratising access to doing*, not just knowing.
The Power of Community and Social Learning
Beyond individual skills, how important are community networks and belonging in shaping learning outcomes in an organisation?
Ultimately, learning is an inherently social experience. We learn better when we learn together. EdTech and community must fuse. Imagine a group learning financial literacy, supported by EdTech content, but regularly convening – physically or virtually – to practice through conversation and dialogue. This social learning strengthens bonds and transitions internal knowledge into external, habitual behaviour change, which is precisely what organisations seek. Learning from others’ experiences, including their failures, allows us to make wiser decisions. This blend of EdTech-driven knowledge and real-life or virtual community dialogue is vital for fostering effective, lasting learning.
EdTech’s Next Big Thing: Social-First Experiences
Looking ahead, what do you think EdTech should build next – the next big thing that we haven’t seen yet?
Andy finds “social-first experiences” fascinating and largely untapped in EdTech. Many of us spend significant time in apps like WhatsApp or Discord. Yet, EdTech isn’t truly integrated into these daily social workflows. He envisions chat-based education, where users can interact with knowledge bases directly within their preferred messaging apps, sending voice notes, writing text, and producing answers, rather than being dragged into separate learning apps. This focus on “usability” and “accessibility” by meeting users where they already are, embedding learning into native daily behaviours, is crucial. The chat interface, he believes, will be the interface of future software.
This vision aligns perfectly with the adaptable nature of Open eLMS LMS. Our system is designed for flexibility and integration, allowing organisations to deliver learning in diverse formats and across various platforms. While the focus has traditionally been on models, the application of AI within these user-friendly interfaces is where true innovation lies. Furthermore, Andy believes EdTech has a role in helping individuals manage their “digital CV” – how they appear on platforms like ChatGPT or Claude. Can EdTech coach us to become influential thought leaders and experts in the right digital spaces, helping us control our narrative and build our online presence responsibly from a young age? This modular, lifelong approach to EdTech, growing with the user through different life stages, is a powerful concept.
AI, Inequality, and EdTech’s Ethical Role
Moving to a more critical area, will AI democratise opportunities, or will it risk widening existing inequalities in society and the business world?
Andy makes a crucial distinction: AI itself is neither good nor evil; it’s the intentions and incentives of the actors behind it that determine its impact. He expresses concern that much of AI development is driven by wealthy, capitalistic billionaires whose primary motive is quarterly growth. This, he fears, will exacerbate wealth inequality, widening the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots.” He likens social media to “baby AI,” which, despite its relatively simple curation, has led to significant societal harm. AI, he warns, has 10X the potential for negative impact if we don’t slow down and roll it out thoughtfully. This requires a coordinated global effort for regulation, ensuring that the immense power of AI – to cure diseases, for example – is not overshadowed by the pursuit of continuous growth at all costs. It’s refreshing to hear that some high-level figures within major AI providers are beginning to recognise this need for a “UN for AI,” advocating for a more measured approach.
So, what part does EdTech have to play in ensuring equitable access to education, skills, and opportunity?
EdTech’s role is fundamentally about democratising access to information and learning. This isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution; democratising access for one individual will differ from another based on their competency levels. It means making tools like ChatGPT and Gemini accessible even to those who cannot afford them, perhaps through integration with local job centres and libraries. It also means educating people on the fundamentals of LLMs, prompting, data privacy, and security, making this complex world understandable and navigable.
This is precisely where Open eLMS steps in. Our Open eLMS Learning Generator, an AI-powered e-learning creation tool, can rapidly develop educational resources at scale. We’ve already digitalised entire GCSE and A-level syllabuses for the UK, and year one and two education syllabuses for Ghana. The potential for good here is immense. By making high-quality, engaging resources available – far superior to the static PDFs often found – we can bridge educational gaps in underserved areas. The current model, often gated by examining boards and traditional business models, restricts access to vital knowledge. EdTech, with its ability to deliver dynamic, interactive content, can challenge this by making education freely available, focusing on skills beyond narrow academic pathways – emotional, social, financial, and mental intelligence – which are invaluable in the workplace.
The Future of Learning: A Human-Centred Partnership with AI
So, what is the future of learning in an AI-driven economy, and how can EdTech help people develop the creativity, confidence, and adaptability needed to thrive?
The future of learning, as our conversation with Andy Ayim illuminates, is not about AI replacing human intelligence, but augmenting it. It’s about a dynamic, human-centred partnership where EdTech, powered by AI, liberates us from the mundane to focus on our uniquely human strengths: curiosity, connection, creativity, and critical judgment. It’s a future where learning is personalised, adaptive, and deeply integrated into our daily lives and social fabric. It’s a future where “soft skills” are explicitly taught and practiced through intelligent, interactive platforms, ensuring graduates are not just knowledgeable, but confident and capable.
Crucially, this future demands a responsible approach to AI, one that prioritises equitable access and thoughtful regulation over unchecked growth. EdTech has a vital role in democratising high-quality educational resources, breaking down traditional barriers, and fostering a lifelong learning journey that adapts to an ever-changing world. It’s about empowering every individual, regardless of their starting point, with the skills and confidence to lead, innovate, and connect.
At Open eLMS, we are committed to building this future. Our Open eLMS LMS provides a robust, cloud-based platform for comprehensive personnel management, live learning, skills monitoring, and custom reporting, all designed to centralise and enhance your organisation’s learning and development. With our unique AI capabilities, particularly the Open eLMS Learning Generator, we empower you to create custom eLearning courses, videos, podcasts, and gamification in minutes, transforming how you approach content creation and skill development. We also offer the Open eLMS eLearning Store with over 600 CPD-accredited courses, and the Everything App to extend your LMS into a full corporate software solution.
Are you ready to transform your organisation’s learning strategy with an AI-powered, human-centred approach? Discover how Open eLMS can help you cultivate the essential skills for tomorrow’s workforce, improve employee performance, and achieve measurable ROI.
Visit [https://www.openelms.com](https://www.openelms.com) today to explore our solutions and begin your journey towards innovative, impactful learning.