Education Futures

SuperSkills: The 7 human skills AI can't replace

What skills will remain irreplaceable as AI takes over more and more of the work we do? That's the question that led Rahim Hirji [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahimhirji/] to write SuperSkills [https://www.thesuperskills.com/] — a book about the human capabilities that will define who thrives in the age of AI. Rahim has spent over two decades at the intersection of technology and education. He ran Maths Doctor, one of the UK's first online tutoring businesses. He co-founded EtonX [https://www.linkedin.com/company/etonx], which brought soft skills education to students across China and beyond. He then joined Quizlet [https://www.linkedin.com/company/quizlet/] to lead its international growth, and served as Executive Vice-President at Avallain [https://www.avallain.com/], a Switzerland-based learning platform. He is now advising AI and EdTech businesses. He is also a school governor at Channing School [https://uk.linkedin.com/company/channing-school] in North London. In this episode, Rahim walks us through his SuperSkills Ladder, a framework that goes from survival skills all the way up to what he calls the 7 super skills: curiosity, change readiness, big picture thinking, principled innovation, empathy, global adaptability, and the augmented mindset. His research draws on the findings of the World Economic Forum and McKinsey on the future of work. He explains why the "specialist skills" layer — the vocational knowledge we've spent careers building — is the one being disrupted hardest by AI, and why developing super skills is now an urgent priority for anyone in the workforce. We also explore what it means to raise teenagers in the age of AI (including Rahim's own hard rule with his 14-year-old), why school curricula need a fundamental redesign, and why the augmented mindset — knowing when to use AI versus when to think for yourself first — may be the most important skill of all. Go further: https://superskillsbook.com/ [https://superskillsbook.com/] - Rahim's book, pre-order it now! https://www.thesuperskills.com/about [https://www.thesuperskills.com/about] - more about Rahim https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-i-tell-kids-ai-rahim-hirji-bs5re/ [https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-i-tell-kids-ai-rahim-hirji-bs5re/] - His article "What I Tell Kids About AI" https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-i-tell-parents-ai-rahim-hirji-mcurf/ [https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-i-tell-parents-ai-rahim-hirji-mcurf/] - His article "What I Tell Parents About AI" https://boxofamazing.substack.com/ [https://boxofamazing.substack.com/] - Rahim's substack

AI, Companions & EdTech: A VC's Perspective

What separates an AI companion from an AI agent? And when does a "sticky" learning app actually make you smarter? In this episode, Svenia Busson sits down with Rhys Spence [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhys-spence/], Head of Research & Platform at Brighteye Ventures [https://www.brighteyevc.com/] — one of Europe's leading EdTech and future-of-work VC funds, with over €220 million under management. Rhys shares the key insights from Brighteye's report Me, Myself and My AI: The Rise of AI Companions [https://www.brighteyevc.com/sidekick-posts/me-myself-and-my-ai---the-rise-of-ai-companions], exploring how AI companions are reshaping education, health, and finance — and why vertical, regulated tools are safer and more defensible than general-purpose AI. They also dig into the role of behavioral science in making people genuinely want to learn, the tension between product stickiness and real learning outcomes, the rise of VR and smart glasses in vocational training (cutting qualification times by up to 99%), and Rhys's "Fix the Pothole" thesis: why AI should rebuild broken systems from the ground up, not layer efficiency gains on top of them. Rhys also shares what Brighteye Ventures is actively looking for from early-stage EdTech founders today — and what it means to invest for impact without being an impact fund. To go further: Me, Myself, and My AI - the rise of AI companions: [https://www.brighteyevc.com/sidekick-posts/me-myself-and-my-ai---the-rise-of-ai-companions] https://www.brighteyevc.com/sidekick-posts/me-myself-and-my-ai---the-rise-of-ai-companions Brighteye Ventures [https://www.brighteyevc.com/]: https://www.brighteyevc.com/ Rhys Spence on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhys-spence/ https://www.brighteyevc.com/sidekick-posts/fix-the-pothole (Blog post about the Fix the Pothole reference)

From AI readiness to human flourishing

What if education wasn't about delivering content, but about preparing young people for human flourishing in the age of AI? In this episode of Education Futures, Svenia Busson sits down with one of the earliest visionaries on AI in K-12: Babak Mostaghimi. Back in 2019, long before ChatGPT, he convinced one of the largest school districts in the US that AI would be a Netflix-style disruption for education. The result: an AI Readiness Framework rolled out across 142 schools and 180,000 students. Today, he's pushing the boundaries even further, working to re-architect the entire American public education system around human development. In this conversation, we explore: * How a McKinsey Global Institute report sparked an early AI bet inside the 11th-largest US school district * The "Swim, Snorkel, Scuba Dive" metaphor for AI literacy across K-12 * Why human and durable skills (not prompt engineering) should be the foundation * Why we should flip the script: "soft knowledge, hard skills" * His top 5 skills for the age of AI: discernment, compassion, interest, relational intelligence, and creativity * The "blockbuster vs. Netflix" moment facing public education today * How to design assessment in the background of meaningful work, not as stop-and-test exams * Why de-skilling is real, and why the answer is redesigning learning and not banning AI A hopeful, deeply systemic conversation about the architecture we'll need to build the future of learning we actually want. Links & references mentioned in this episode: * Learner Studio (where Babak now works alongside CEO Kim Smith): https://learnerstudio.org [https://learnerstudio.org] * Gwinnett County Public Schools (where the AI Readiness Framework was developed): https://www.gcpsk12.org [https://www.gcpsk12.org] * The Forest School (Atlanta) & Institute for Self-Directed Learning, founded by Tyler Thigpen: https://www.theforest.school [https://www.theforest.school]. Their last report can be found here: https://www.selfdirect.school/futureeducator [https://www.selfdirect.school/futureeducator] * Teach for all: https://teachforall.org/ [https://teachforall.org/] & Teach For America: https://www.teachforamerica.org [https://www.teachforamerica.org] * McKinsey Global Institute report on automation & jobs (referenced from 2017): https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/jobs-lost-jobs-gained-what-the-future-of-work-will-mean-for-jobs-skills-and-wages [https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/jobs-lost-jobs-gained-what-the-future-of-work-will-mean-for-jobs-skills-and-wages] * Isabel Hau (Stanford) on relational intelligence (cited as inspiration for one of his top 5 skills): https://isabellehau.com [https://isabellehau.com]

MOON: A new pedagogy for the age of AI

What does education need to become when AI can replicate most of our cognitive abilities, and what human skills must we protect, develop, and teach now, before it's too late? In this episode, Svenia Busson sits down with Delphine Le Serre, engineer turned behavioral scientist, founder of EdHu 2050 [https://www.edhu2050.com] and creator of the MOON Pedagogy. After starting her career in microelectronics, Delphine gave her first university lecture in 2005, and never looked back. When COVID-19 hit, she realized education needed a radical rethink and founded EdHu 2050, a non-profit think tank based in Montreal that guides universities, school boards, and ministries of education through the AI transformation. At the heart of her work is the MOON Pedagogy, a holistic educational framework built around four pillars: Me with Myself (intrapersonal socio-emotional intelligence), Me with Others (empathy, non-violent communication, and collaboration), Me with Intelligent Objects (AI literacy, often taught without any screens), and Me with Nature (reconnecting children with the natural world). They also discuss how the shape of organizations is shifting, why human skills are the real currency of the future, and what parents and teachers can do today to raise children ready for 2050. Delphine is building the first Moon School, set to open in Toronto in 2027. 🔗 edhu2050.com [https://www.edhu2050.com] 🔗 HUMANES education summit in Montreal: https://www.humaneducationsummit.com/ 🔗 Delphine's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/delphineleserre/

Socratic Dialogue in the age of AI

What can Socrates teach us about artificial intelligence? In this episode, Svenia Busson sits down with Alexander Montag, a scholar of ancient Greek philosophy finishing his doctorate at Tulane University, and soon to teach at St. John's University in New York as well as to conduct research at the New School for Social Research. Together they explore the concept of Socratic dialogue. We unpack what Socratic dialogue actually means, drawing on some of Plato's most important texts, the Lysis (on friendship and the teacher-student relationship), the Theaetetus and its sequel the Sophist (on knowledge, truth, and the pretender to wisdom), and the Phaedrus (on the dangers of writing itself). Together, they ask: Is AI the new sophist — a convincing pretender to wisdom that can mimic the form of dialogue without ever truly seeking the truth? What does AI sycophancy do to our capacity to think? Can AI ever occupy the role of a teacher we admire and want to emulate? And what happens to philosophical education — and the sacred long-form essay — in a world where students have access to LLMs around the clock? We also dive into the question of teaching philosophy from an early age, the value of interdisciplinary thinking over disciplinary silos, and what every technological revolution — from writing to agriculture to AI — forces us to confront: what does it mean to be human? A rich, timely, and genuinely Socratic conversation. References & Resources mentioned: * Plato's Lysis — on friendship and the student-teacher relationship * Plato's Theaetetus and Sophist — on knowledge, truth, and the sophist as pretender * Plato's Phaedrus — on writing, memory, and dialogue * Tulane University [https://www.tulane.edu] — where our guest completed his doctorate * St. John's University, New York [https://www.stjohns.edu] — where he will be teaching * The New School for Social Research [https://www.newschool.edu/nssr/] — where he will be a visiting researcher