Byju Raveendran eyes return via AI model, says students will be compensated

Business Standard

18-05-2025

BYJU'S founder and CEO Byju Raveendran has publicly apologised for the disruptions in the edtech firm's services that impacted thousands of students last year, vowing to compensate those affected and promising a comeback with a leaner, AI-powered model.
In an interview with news agency ANI, Byju Raveendran expressed regret over the distress caused to students, acknowledging that a few thousand learners missed out on course continuity due to the company's financial crisis.
'Even if it's one student, it still cannot happen,' he said, noting the disruption began in September 2023 when insolvency-related challenges halted teacher payments.
Despite this, Raveendran stressed that the core product remained functional. 'Millions of students got our product, happily learned from it, and finished their courses. The product part was not disrupted,' he said.
'I owe them compensation': Byju Raveendran on affected students
Raveendran said he is actively working on ways to compensate the affected students. 'Even if one student has missed out in the last six months, I will today apologise to them, but we'll compensate for it.'
He defended the company's decision not to abruptly cut operations despite investor pressure. 'We didn't shut down businesses because course completion matters when it comes to students. You have to finish what you start,' he said.
New model, same mission: BYJU'S 3.0 to focus on AI
Looking ahead, Raveendran outlined his plans for BYJU'S 3.0, an AI-driven platform aimed at making education more accessible and engaging. 'It's going to be the same mission—how do we make it easy and interesting for students?' he said.
He highlighted the potential of AI not to replace but empower educators and make one-on-one tutoring scalable. 'There is now an opportunity to almost productise the service part—one personal tutor for every student,' he said.
Raveendran claimed that more students are using BYJU'S platforms today than two years ago, with 250 million learners across platforms. 'That's five times more than anyone else—if you can even call them a competitor,' he added.
'Mistakes were made, but we corrected them'
Addressing criticism of aggressive sales tactics, Raveendran admitted some errors but distanced the company's philosophy from such practices. 'We were selling the love for learning. A few hundred of the tens of thousands of salespeople made mistakes, but we corrected them.'
He insisted that he would never sell anything he wouldn't offer his own child. 'I will never sell any product that is not used at home or something I wouldn't give my son. He learned the fundamentals of math and coding through WhiteHat Junior,' he said.
'We won't give up till we win'
The company, once India's edtech darling, has been battling regulatory, financial, and legal headwinds after its meteoric rise during the Covid-19 pandemic. Still, Raveendran remains defiant.
'We are not able to fight this media battle. It's like large corporations on the other side. But we are not giving up. How do you beat a person who never gives up?' he said.
Founded in 2011, BYJU'S soared during the pandemic as millions of students moved online. Its crash, as dramatic as its rise, has raised questions about the viability of scale-first edtech models. Raveendran, however, believes BYJU'S 3.0 can spark a fresh beginning—with fewer resources, more technology, and a promise to do right by students.