Avneesh Kumar

Hi, I'm Avneesh.

I spent a decade building inside the education system for 600+ schools. Now I'm taking those insights into agency and leverage with Permissionless Academy.

For many years I thought that our schools are broken and need fixing. I've since realized that isn't the case. Schools aren't failing. They are still successfully producing the same outcomes they were built for. The problem is that the world they were built for no longer exists and the economic contract between school and student has expired.

Many have spent the last decade trying to revitalize this contract, but with little success. With the advent of AI, by applying first principles to feedback, iteration, and human agency at scale, we finally have a real chance to engineer a way through.

This is the most important work in education right now. This is my work.

EssaysMy story

If you're building in education + AI — research, product, platform, or schools — I'm open to comparing notes. Send me a text or email.

Principles that guide my work

  • Incentives shape behavior

    Systems change only when the payoff changes.

  • Structure beats motivation

    Progress comes from feedback loops, not inspiration.

  • Agency over compliance

    The goal is people who can build without permission.

  • AI as leverage, not shortcut

    Used well, it sharpens thinking. Used poorly, it replaces it.

Read my story → →

Interested in my life's work — start with these 3 essays.

Pandemic

The Software Paradox: Why Amplification Isn’t Transformation

Better tools only amplify the system you already have. Transformation needs to be approached from first principles.

Read →
View all essaysOn education, systems, and AI.

Current work

Things I'm spending my time on.

Permissionless Academy

2024–Present
Schoolze Labs Project

AI-native learning platform focused on helping people build real skills and income-generating assets.

  • Learners build real projects and assets, not certificates or grades.
  • Progress is shown through finished work and public proof, not degrees.
  • Practice happens by doing, improving, and repeating, with AI feedback.
  • Goal is to help learners build recurring financial value, typically in the $3K–$20K/month range.

Schoolze Labs

2024–Present
Previously Schoolze

An AI-native experimentation layer focused on fundraising, incentives, and system-level tools for education.

  • AI-driven fundraising workflows designed to reduce friction and increase participation.
  • Experimentation with incentive-aware features for schools and communities.
  • Beta testing new tools, including RaiseAI, in real-world environments.
  • Operating as a lab to explore where AI can meaningfully shift outcomes without relying on institutional reform.

Side gigs

Because I love building.

EditorMode.ai

Permissionless

GhostCMO.ai

Permissionless

AI for marketing operations.

Hellodesk

Marketplace

Marketplace for meeting rooms and offices.

Art Abilities

Non profit

Monterey AI Labs

AI research and product.

Full details on Work page →
Stay in the loop

Education is changing. Quietly. From the outside.

I share essays and experiments on incentives, AI, and building real-world skills beyond credentials.

Or send a text or email.