Ikum Kandola, Founder and CEO of AI business Teachify, is revolutionising EdTech by enabling educators to generate accurate teaching resources instantaneously.
With a background of GenAI software engineering and research at PwC, he has received multiple business awards for his pioneering start-up at age 24.
- Tell us a little bit about your business…
Teachify is a pioneering AI-powered tool that reduces teacher workload by helping educators prepare lessons in a fraction of the original time. Using the Teachify LLM (Large Language Model), our tool empowers educators to instantaneously generate custom resources conforming to UK exam board standards: lesson plans, homework, flashcards, quizzes and more. What further sets us apart as an AI tool is the in-app editor where teaching resources can be easily edited, saved and downloaded by our users. Our mission is to help teachers make time for what matters most, by reducing prep and admin time so teachers can focus on their students.
2. How did you get into the industry?
I embarked on my entrepreneurship journey while studying computer science at The University of Birmingham. During this time, I realised the huge potential GenAI had to redefine the education industry and relieve the workload of often overworked stressed teachers. I delivered a number of training sessions, workshops and online courses to educate teachers but discovered that there was no accurate AI tool tailored for education. This led me to found Teachify.
I was lucky enough to be supported by the University of Birmingham’s Elevate Business Incubator alongside my co-founder Frank Crossley as we started building Teachify. We are now a team of five that have won awards from Dragons’ Den’s Theo Paphitis and recently named Midlands Startup of the Year in the Education and Training category. As a business we’re looking forward to supporting the next generation of teachers with our AI tools.
3. What are the biggest opportunities and challenges in your industry?
It is no secret that AI, and GenAI in particular, has taken off as a technology in the last couple of years. This means that new startups and established companies alike are seeking to harness the power of Artificial Technology in innovative ways. The same is true for our industry, Education Technology. A recent study by Deloitte even predicted Education to be the sector most significantly impacted by GenAI in the future.
In EdTech, the difficulty lies in the slow moving nature of the Education sector. Procurement processes often take months and decision makers are known to be risk averse. This can mean groundbreaking tech developments can take months or even years to be leveraged within the industry.
4. How would you describe your leadership style?
Leadership is no easy feat, which is why I’ve experimented a lot before starting to expand my business. I have a balance of a structured approach with regular strategy sessions which create goals for the team, along with a more laissez-faire approach on day to day tasks after employees have earned my trust. I always opt for an agile approach at Teachify, which means everything we produce is done in cycles rather than in one go. I welcome the team’s feedback and believe the best leaders listen more than they speak.
5. How do you get the most out of the people who work for you?
I ensure we maintain regular communication and believe that a productive team member is one that feels happy, supported and appreciated in the environment they are in. As we build in cycles, I encourage everyone to ‘fail quickly’ rather than aim for perfection first time so we can build in a more collaborative way and give more frequent feedback. This also helps to relieve pressure for new starters who can be afraid to ask a lot of questions.
6. What are the most crucial elements to your business running smoothly and being successful?
Teachify’s growth is traced back to multiple factors, but I can name at least two key parts of our business that we had to get right. The first is team excellence, as building a skilled and disciplined team that shares our vision is one of the biggest factors in being able to keep doing what we do. We also prioritise customer feedback integration to ensure we are staying on the right track and are making the right decisions as we further develop our app. As co-founders, Frank and I have frequently chat with our users to gather feedback and understand what is and what isn’t working for them.
7. How has the past 12 months been for you?
I’ve had so many reasons to celebrate from graduating university with first-class honours, to being named Midlands Startup of the Year for Education & Training all within the same year! It has definitely been a huge learning curve and I have often felt overloaded while juggling a full-time role at PwC at the same time. Perfecting our branding has been a priority, and we continue to refine our product each month.
8. What will the next 12 months look like for your business?
Following our documented success with our Pilot Programme, award wins and team expansion, we are actively looking to work with more teacher-training institutions and UK businesses alike to reduce teacher stress and give them more time for their students.
9. What are the highlights of your career so far?
One of this year’s highlights that makes me really proud is from December, when I personally received the SBS Award by Dragons’ Den’s Theo Paphitis after catching his eye on X. Being recognised with this award was an incredible joy to start my career with, and it reflected the hard work the team puts in every day to improve the lives of teachers.
10. What’s the biggest business mistake that you’ve learnt from?
Choose your niche. Start with a small market. As Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI says, you’re better building something that a few people love than something a lot of people like. At first, I wanted to build a product that would be useful to all teachers, but ended up with something that was too generic and added a little value to a lot of people. When we switched to targeting newly qualified teachers of secondary schools, we were able to tailor the app more and provide massive value to our niche. This helped us build a unique community who were really excited about Teachify!
11. What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve been given?
A crucial piece of advice I received, and this applies to all startup founders, is to approach real customers from day 1. That means before you build anything get out there and speak to people. Don’t build a product and then try to find your customer. It’s good that you’re taking a step, but make sure it’s in the right direction before committing your time and effort.
