For over a decade, Indian edtech was synonymous with Byju’s. It defined the first era of digital learning in India: slick video lessons, aggressive sales machinery, and a scale-at-any-cost ambition that captured global investor interest. But that era, clearly, is over. What we’re witnessing now is not just the fall of one company, but a reset across the entire edtech landscape.
The next wave of edtech won’t resemble what came before. We’re moving away from classrooms on apps and teachers as video influencers. The future is pointing toward something far more radical, personalized, intelligent tutoring powered by artificial intelligence. Learning moments are designed in real time, attuned to the pace, language, and even the mood of the learner.
Think of a 10-year-old in Surat requesting an AI teacher to teach algebra in Gujarati through cricket metaphors. Imagine a UPSC candidate in Patna posting a handwritten practice answer and getting rich, actionable comments within 30 seconds. Imagine a virtual instructor which hears hesitation in your voice, picks up on confusion, and automatically changes how it teaches a subject. This shift is already happening in small but significant ways.
Global platforms like Khan Academy are testing AI tools like Khanmigo to augment classroom learning. Duolingo is using generative AI to simulate human conversation in language learning. Even Google Classroom is evolving into an AI-powered learning assistant. In India, startups like iPrep, Winuall, and Toppersnotes are quietly layering AI into existing offerings. The buzzwords may be new, but the intent is familiar: making quality education more accessible, effective, and scalable.
India, ironically, is both under-served and overpopulated when it comes to education. It boasts one of the world’s largest student groups and yet is plagued by acute teacher shortages in both government schools and rural parts. Although great teachers cannot be substituted by AI, great teachers can significantly narrow the gap by providing immediate support, multilingual help, and constant guidance across devices.
With increasing smartphone penetration and data becoming progressively cheaper by the day, India is particularly well-placed to turn into the globe’s largest experiment ground for mass-market AI tutoring.
But the shift toward AI in education comes with real risks. There are questions about equity. Will a student in a Tier 3 town with a basic Android phone get the same experience as a student in Delhi with high-speed internet and better hardware? There are concerns about accuracy. Can we fully trust AI-generated explanations, assessments, or feedback without human validation? And there are deeper pedagogical dilemmas too. Can AI offer empathy, inspiration, or motivation? Are we gradually outsourcing the emotional labor of teaching to a chatbot?
Despite these questions, investor interest hasn’t vanished, it’s just evolved. After the turbulence of the Byju’s era, VCs are now looking at the next phase of edtech with more caution and a sharper thesis. Large funders are watching how AI can be integrated into upskilling platforms,coaching institutes, and school support systems. Founders are pivoting from flashy apps to real, often invisible infrastructure, learning systems that adapt to students, not the other way around.
The new pitch is no longer “replace the school,” but rather “give every learner a personal learning assistant.” The fall of Byju’s isn’t the end of India’s edtech story, it’s the beginning of a quieter, smarter, and possibly more inclusive chapter. This next generation of edtech will be less about celebrity endorsements and more about community impact. It will focus less on pre-recorded content and more on adaptive, real-time interaction. And it will move away from the one-size-fits-all approach to something that feels built for each student individually.
In many ways, this is the moment the Indian edtech ecosystem has been waiting for. Not a revolution of hype and valuation, but one of depth, design, and long-term impact. The future belongs to founders who treat AI not as a buzzword, but as a real tool to improve learning outcomes.
Byju’s may have been the first wave. AI tutors might just power the second. But the real transformation will begin when every student, regardless of location, income, or language, has access to a tutor that understands them better than any teacher ever could. That’s not just a new product category. That’s a new vision for education in India. And it’s a future worth building.
