education in the wild

Field notes to prepare you for ASU-GSV 2025

ASU+GSV 2025: The Business of Education in the Wild

In the soft glow of San Diego’s April sun, a rare migration unfolds. Numerous species—investors, founders, policymakers, provosts—converge in a ritual older than the LMS itself: the annual summit where the future of the business of learning is bartered.

Here, in the wild corridors of the Manchester Grand Hyatt, the alpha predators of education reform circle quietly, exchanging glances over name badges. Mating dances are performed in elevators. Algorithms are hawked in hushed tones. And beneath the carefully curated sessions lies a parallel ecosystem: one driven not by pedagogy, but by power.

Let us observe.

---

Act I: The Real Agenda Beneath the Canopy

1. AI’s Institutional Trust Crisis

Note the AI vendor, resplendent in demo reel and buzzword, preening before the herd.

But the institutions are wary. These creatures—burned by edtech promises—have grown skittish. Now, their survival depends not on innovation, but on trust.

Observe the session titled FACTS Grounding Benchmark. On the surface, a technical affair. But it is, in fact, a ritual cleansing—an effort to prove AI models can be domesticated, monitored, and made to behave.

Many will fail. Those that pass the audit trial gauntlet may yet find sanctuary within the halls of academia.

2. India’s Education Moon Shot

To the east, beyond the horizon, a vast and turbulent opportunity awakens.

India—home to over 400 million learners—has entered its rapid growth phase. The foreign predators are circling, salivating over what appears to be an open savannah.

But appearances deceive. For the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), under Prime Minister Modi’s watchful eye, has raised barriers: data sovereignty, local hiring quotas, and regulatory snares designed to favor native species.

Many foreign firms, unaware, will step into the thicket. A few—those who’ve forged early alliances with indigenous entities—may yet survive the coming dry season.

3. The Great Enrollment Heist

Deep in the undergrowth, a war is being waged—not over ideology, but over students.

Once, institutions competed passively. Today, they hunt.

Armed with AI-driven churn models and predictive tuition discounts, elite predators now stalk the disillusioned from rival campuses. It is, in the words of one unnamed vice provost, “e-commerce for undergrads.”

The Crow higher-ed conversations? Camouflage. Behind the velvet drapes, enrollment warfare has begun.

---

Act II: Hidden Themes in the Shadows

1. The Cheating Industrial Complex

At first glance, it is a panel on academic integrity in K-12. Harmless. Noble, even.

But look closer.

Observe the quiet funding of eye-movement detection tools. The emotion-AI startups assessing micro-facial expressions. The subcontractors scouring keystroke rhythms for signs of dishonesty.

In the span of two seasons, a $4 billion market has emerged—one where guilt is no longer determined by human educators, but by sensors and code.

2. DEI’s Pivot to ROI

In one corner of the canopy, a ritual metamorphosis unfolds.

Gone is the language of justice. In its place: compliance, talent pipelines, and ESG mitigation strategies.

“Neurodiversity hiring ecosystems,” one might hear. Or “intercultural citizenship frameworks.”

Is this DEI evolved for corporate habitats? Is this about transformation, or defensibility?

3. The Community College Rebellion

For generations, these humble institutions have been overlooked. Deemed flightless. Peripheral.

But now, with apprenticeship technologies and partnerships, they rise.

Two-year schools are no longer feeder species. They are becoming keystone predators in the employer education ecosystem—tapping into the $1.2 trillion L&D budget.

Their revenge will not be televised. It will be transcribed in hiring dashboards.

---

Act III: Evolutionary Adaptations to Watch

These are not trends. They are evolutionary responses. Only the well-adapted will survive.

---

Act IV: Behavioral Guidance for Field Observers

For Attendees: Your Field Notes

• Hunting Grounds to Stalk:

  • ASU+GSV & Emeritus India Mixer: Intelligence on India’s next RFP cycle.

  • Higher Ed Closed-Door Dinners: Intel on enrollment prediction tooling.

• Diagnostic Call to Use in the Wild:

“How does your solution handle FACTS Grounding compliance?”
A simple utterance. A powerful signal. Watch who scatters.

• Distraction to Avoid:
  The Mainstage AI keynotes. Their function is ceremonial, not informational.

Instead, follow the scent to the Neurodiversity Hiring talk. Microsoft will be circling startups here.

For Non-Attendees: What to Learn on the Cheap

• Follow the NSDC Trail:
  By mid-2026, any firm without a local Indian JV may find itself the way of the dodo.

• Talent Signals to Watch:
  Engineers fluent in LTI 1.3 and AI auditing will soon command a premium. Poach accordingly.

• Brace for the Credentials Pivot:
  What does it mean that Walmart is accepting blockchain-based credentials for management roles? Do you need to pivot?

---

Final Observations

And so we conclude our study. Amidst the buzzwords and branding, one truth pulses beneath the surface:

Institutions are navigating a double trauma—the aftereffects of COVID’s remote learning fallout, and AI’s unpredictability.

The vendors that offer calm, clarity, and auditability will thrive.

The rest will perish, clutching their disruption decks.

As the sun sets over the marina, the delegates begin their slow migration home. But the deals struck, the strategies seeded, and the alliances formed will echo for at least a year.

---

Recent Posts by Education Executive Intelligence:

---

Recent Posts by Higher Education Executive Intelligence:

fight or fold?

research cuts are an enrollment headache

---

Adil Husain has over two decades of experience advising education and learning organizations within the K-12, Higher Education and Workforce/Professional space, including 13 of the 20 largest U.S. education companies by revenue, on corporate strategy, product-market fit, customer acquisition, and growth. He is Managing Director at Emerging Strategy, a strategic intelligence firm that helps enterprises within Education and other sectors navigate complex markets, with a focus on international growth.

You can contact Adil here or connect with him on LinkedIn for more insights.