AI Edu heavyweights join Atypical AI engineering leadership.
Kevin Wiggen, Former Blackboard CTO, Joins Atypical AI as CTO Amid Engineering Team Expansion
In an exciting move for Atypical AI, Kevin Wiggen, the former CTO of Blackboard, has joined us as our Founding CTO - as well as industry veterans Nate Edwards, former founding team of Flipgrid, and Reinhold Staudinger, former Chief Architect at Blackboard.
Kevin managed the global onboarding of 100M+ students at Microsoft during the COVID-19 pandemic and has successfully executed tech transformations impacting 150M users in 80 countries. Kevin led tech management of 14 key products at billion-dollar Learning Management System Blackboard. He has deep startup DNA - having co-founded a startup that scaled from 2 to 85 employees. It is rare to find someone with both hacker abilities and the ability to scale to worldwide operations - for example, his focus on efficiency led to a significant data center to AWS transition, streamlining operations and reducing costs. Kevin’s strong track record is marked by a successful startup exit and leadership roles at major tech firms. His international experience will be a cornerstone in Atypical’s global strategies.
Nate has developed and scaled products and teams from startups to industry leaders used by millions across the world. As a founding team member and the VP of Engineering for Flipgrid, Nate led engineering vision and operations that were rooted in community-driven development, which eventually led to the company’s acquisition by Microsoft in 2018. As a part of Microsoft, he led multiple integrations across the organization that served the EdTech community and beyond.
Formerly Chief Architect of Blackboard and VP of Analytics at Anthology, Reinhold led the modernization of a large EdTech portfolio, and his team’s cross-product data solutions have been implemented in over 800 education systems around the world. We know that the combination of software excellence and generative AI understanding is profoundly impactful - and Reinhold is key to unlocking the value of LLMs in Atypical for teachers and learners.
This marks a significant milestone in our journey. The addition of Kevin, along with our expanded engineering team, positions Atypical AI at the forefront of innovation and growth in the AI for the education world.
Founding team of AI researchers and learning science experts at Atypical AI announces $4m pre-seed fundraise and the addition to the Board of noted AI operator and former Open AI board member Shivon Zilis.
August 22, 2023 — Today, Atypical AI, an artificial intelligence and learning science lab, announces its ongoing work to bring next generation personalized learning systems to students, educators, and education content creators. The company is also announcing the successful completion of its pre-seed funding round, securing $4 million in cash investments and compute credits. Investors include 468 Cap, Accelerator Venture Capital, Ascend VC, Bloomberg Beta, SNR, Frederic Laluyaux, Erik Blachford, Craig Sherman, Anthony Lee, Daniel Sturman from Roblox, Dan Carroll from Clever, Mindful VC, as well as execs from Apple AI and Google AI. The funding will be used to further advance the development of AI-enabled teaching, tutoring, and assessment solutions.
Particularly of note is the unique combination of AI leaders, learning science experts, K-12 and university educators, and industry operators who have come together as a combined research lab and technology company to guide the development of scalable educational tools. The company is led by CEO Bethanie Maples, former technology leader and researcher at Google X, Google AI, and Stanford. Company advisors include Aimee Johnson and Jonathan Rochelle, who add years of product leadership experience from Google AI, LinkedIn, Starbucks, and Zillow. The executive team and board also includes former leaders from Apple, Minerva Project, and SpaceX.
Shivon Zilis, former OpenAI board member and executive at Neuralink, has joined Atypical AI as a board member, bringing her deep knowledge of artificial intelligence to the team. “When you imagine positive futures with AI, using it to develop human intelligence is possibly the most impactful area I can imagine,” says Zilis.
Atypical AI’s mission is to augment authentic, engaging, and impactful learning experiences by delivering the power of artificial intelligence to learners, educators, parents, and education content creators. The company is building applications that use generative AI to address some of the biggest challenges in education, including accessibility, remediation, and especially personalized learning and assessment.
"There are no typical learners,” says CEO and founder of Atypical AI, Bethanie Maples. “Every student is unique. The great potential of artificial intelligence in education lies in its ability to assist each learner in their own unique manner and encourage meaningful and valuable interactions between people. We aim to create a future where personalized learning becomes the norm, where educators are supported with powerful AI-driven tools, and where every learner can unlock their full potential."