Edurepreneur Spotlight: Liam Lytton, cofounder of Make Progress AI 🔦
In the ever-evolving landscape of education technology, Make Progress AI stands out as a game-changer for teachers. I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Liam, the co-founder behind this Canadian-made platform, to discuss how Make Progress AI is transforming the way teachers work and students learn.
The Genesis of Make Progress AI
The inspiration behind Make Progress AI comes from a personal place. Liam and his co-founders discovered that their family members and peers in education were struggling with mounting challenges. They shared how class sizes were growing while resources were shrinking, and expectations kept piling up. The pressure to meet every student where they are felt impossible to them. One particularly striking pain point was how educators were spending over 40 hours each term just writing report card comments - a grueling task that drained their energy and took time away from their students.
These stories of educators burning out under the weight of growing demands and limited resources resonated deeply within their circle. The team came together organically, combining the complementary strengths of the co-founders: Natascia, with her proven track record of startup successes, and Thiago, who brought deep technical expertise from his roles as a developer at Samsung and AI researcher at UDA. Together, they realized the urgent need for a solution to support teachers and began their mission to create Make Progress AI.
Tackling the Feedback Challenge
Make Progress AI's core mission is to enhance the feedback process, which Liam emphasizes is "one of the most important indicators of student success." The platform uses advanced AI to generate personalized, actionable feedback for students, aligning with educational standards and best practices.
Research consistently shows that feedback is one of the most powerful factors in improving student outcomes and proficiency levels," Liam explains. "When we look at the data - especially literacy numbers - students are falling significantly behind benchmarks." He reflects on his own experience, noting how receiving regular feedback on areas for improvement was crucial to his development.
One of my favorite parts of learning founder stories in the edtech space is that everyone has been a student, gone to school, lived the challenges first-hand, and remembers their stand-out experiences- the bad and the great. A good reminder for teachers who feel like they’re not making a big enough impact! Likely your students will go on to do something really cool and might even remember something you did to influence them. Hopefully, it’s for all the GREAT things.
Standing Out in the AI Landscape
When asked about competition from other AI tools, Liam was quick to highlight their unique approach, stating that unless a teacher takes time to learn prompt engineering, tools like ChatGPT aren’t going to cut it.
Make Progress AI' stands out for:
Specificity over Breadth: Unlike general-purpose AI tools, Make Progress AI is tailored specifically for educational feedback.
Geographic Customization: The platform adapts to different educational standards across regions.
User-Friendly Design: A focus on intuitive UX/UI makes the tool accessible to teachers of all tech levels. The tool was made collaboratively with teachers.
Integrated Workflow: The system allows seamless connection between different aspects of student assessment and feedback.
Empowering Teachers
Make Progress AI is designed with teachers' needs at its core. I was so happy to hear, because I know how much this matters to teachers, that they’re constantly refining their prompt engineering and using the correct provincial language for each standard and level. This attention to detail ensures that the AI-generated content is not just accurate, but truly useful for educators.
Looking Into the Future
As Make Progress AI' continues to grow, Liam and his team are focused on making the platform even more accessible:
Developing comprehensive tutorials and FAQs
Maintaining direct lines of communication with users
Offering customization options for schools and districts
Make Progress AI is more than just a tool; it's a partner in education, helping to create more equitable, efficient, and effective learning environments. As we wrapped up our conversation, it was clear that Liam's passion for education and technology is driving a revolution in how we approach student progress and teacher support.
