How AI Will Transform Education Forever | Avinash Pandit x Shekhar Natarajan

**Avinash Pandit** (0:00)
Many of these IITs, students, why for? Because it can literally transform your life.
I literally got flashbacks of what happened during my JEE days in the first couple of weeks of IIM. Which company they wanted to go, and what function in that company they wanted to go. So, people used to come and say, I am from IIT Delhi, I want to go into Goldman Sachs, IBD, London Desk. And I was sitting there, clueless as to what I wanted to do in my life.

**Shekhar Natarajan** (0:26)
It's just good actually, by the way. Let's talk about the Nokia case.

**Avinash Pandit** (0:30)
Nokia came to us, saying that our market share should be stable. And the interesting thing was that the Indian leadership told us not to look at the product. I mean, when we went to the case for the first time, we could literally see that their product is not right, that they are bleeding because there is no product market fit anymore. But you know, nine months after that, the whole mobile division was literally shut down of Nokia. I think one of the most important things for the top layer is to ask the right questions. We will get the answers, but if we don't ask the right questions, probably all the right answers will go to the wrong questions.

**Shekhar Natarajan** (1:10)
Welcome to yet another episode of Tomorrow Today with Shekhar Natarajan. It's a real pleasure to have Avinash Pandit here in the sets today. He's trying to redefine education and outcome based education in India. Avinash, welcome to the show. You're a pioneer in the space.
I'm super excited to have the conversation because education is very close to my heart. And we'll touch on a lot of topics. We'll keep it very conversational.
We'll take it any direction and we'll have fun.

**Avinash Pandit** (1:42)
Sure, sure.

**Shekhar Natarajan** (1:43)
Okay.
And so there are no right answers. There are no wrong answers. You know, just be yourself. So let's go to the very formative stages of your life. You know, like, early days, you know, where did you grow up? Like, if you go back yourself and transport, when you were like a seven-year-old kid, and you were sitting at the breakfast table, your mom, your dad, what's going on through the family? Who are they? How do they think? What were you thinking?

**Avinash Pandit** (2:16)
I think that's a long, long time back. How old do you think I am by the way, Shekhar?

**Shekhar Natarajan** (2:23)
I know your age.
So, that was a trick question. So, yes, I think like you are 41, 42

**Avinash Pandit** (2:31)
Yeah. I mean, many people have told me that I look more like 25
But yeah, it was a long, long time back. So, my dad comes from army background, right? So, most of my childhood, we've traveled every three years to some different location, right? So, home, I think what army makes you realize is that home is a feeling rather than a location, right? So, I've been to Pathankot, Aurangabad, Ranchi, Pune, Chandigarh. My dad was posted in border areas like Kashmir. But I've traveled throughout.
My dad was a doctor. My mom was a doctor. I got a twin sister, by the way, who again has become a doctor later on. But early in my days, I think, what was inculcated...

**Shekhar Natarajan** (3:22)
They were in the armed forces and they were basically doctors.

**Avinash Pandit** (3:25)
Yeah, my dad was a doctor. He was in army. And my mom was a teacher. So, whenever we used to travel, she used to take up a teaching job.
I think what was important was... And my dad was a ranked officer, by the way. So, I think from early childhood, I've studied and made friends with people from across the ranks. Even that small privilege, a ranking officer's kid, I think I knew it from the beginning that I was slightly more privileged as compared to the rest of the population. My parents had studied. They could teach me if I had any particular problem statements. Many of even these things were not accessible to my peers. The other thing which was important was the values and ethos which army brings.
So, taking everybody together, honesty, integrity and sticking by what we feel is right is very very important. All of these were net net the values which I grew up with. But if you just ask specifically breakfast, then I have had the same breakfast for probably as long as I remember. I just have two eggs and a bread.

**Shekhar Natarajan** (4:45)
So, what kind of ethos the family was known for in the sense like you know like for me like my dad was the sort of the epitome of hard work. Like he would like leave at like 5.3 in the morning, go on a bicycle 15 kilometers to work and then like you would see like you know he was he used to deliver telegrams to my father. And then he would spend the whole day come back. So that's how I know my dad. My mom is like she used to be the strongest person I knew.