AI Coach Named One of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2025
We’re thrilled to share some exciting news. AI Coach by Edthena has been recognized as one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2025!
This honor places us among an elite group of transformative technologies that TIME selected based on their impact, innovation, and success. Even more meaningful? We’re one of only five education companies to receive this recognition.
Why this matters for teachers
At its core, our goal with AI Coach has always been straightforward: give every teacher clarity on how to grow, the confidence to try new strategies, and the support needed to keep improving.
Teaching is one of the most impactful professions in the world, yet teachers often lack the ongoing, personalized coaching support they need to reach their full potential. That’s exactly what AI Coach was designed to address.
How AI Coach works
AI Coach helps teachers grow their instructional practice through structured self-reflection on classroom videos. Here’s what makes it unique:
Teachers use our secure platform to independently reflect on their teaching and set near-term goals through a self-paced module that mirrors the instructional coaching process. At the heart of the experience is Edie, our AI-driven coach, who engages teachers in interactive conversations with probing, open-ended questions and offers personalized tips and resources for improvement.
AI-powered video highlighting automatically tags key moments for teachers
This fall, we’ve added a powerful new feature to the platform. AI-powered video highlighting automatically identifies segments of classroom videos based on teachers’ specific goals for improvement. This provides in-the-moment guidance, making it easier and more efficient for teachers to engage in meaningful self-reflection as part of their ongoing professional learning.
“We are continually evolving AI Coach to provide teachers with extra layers of targeted support so they implement meaningful changes in their classroom,” said Adam Geller, founder and CEO of Edthena.
What’s next: Advancing multimodal AI for mathematics instruction
We’re also excited about our participation in a groundbreaking Gates Foundation-funded research project in partnership with the University of Virginia and the University at Albany. This initiative is testing a new system that watches and listens to classroom videos to provide intelligent, actionable feedback specifically tailored for mathematics instruction.
The machine learning model behind this system has been trained on classroom videos hand-coded by expert human observers. This unique dataset enables reliable, credible analysis of uploaded classroom videos. The network is already research-validated and proven to be as reliable as a human observer.
“This system is replicating feedback on actual teaching, which is considered the gold standard model for teacher professional development,” Adam said. “The system guides teachers to analyze the information step-by-step, prompting reflection and helping them consider how the evidence connects to their teaching decisions, just like they would if they were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with an in-person coach.”
Additional recognition
This latest honor follows our recognition earlier this year as one of the World’s Top EdTech Companies of 2025 by TIME and Statista. These accolades reflect our commitment to creating technology that truly serves teachers and, ultimately, the students they impact every day.
“The recognition from TIME underscores the impact of our technology in helping teachers reach their full potential to positively impact the students they serve,” Adam said.
Learn more
Click here to explore how AI Coach can support teachers in your school or district.
You can also read TIME’s full feature on AI Coach at time.com/collections/best-inventions-2025.
