Udemy Cofounder Pivots To In-Person Learning With New Academy For AI Phenoms

Gagan Biyani has spent most of his career trying to reinvent the way people learn. In 2010, he cofounded Udemy, which helped popularize on-demand video-based courses taught by experts. A decade later, he cofounded Maven, an online platform for live classes. Now, ironically, in the age of artificial intelligence, he’s going all-in on learning face-to-face. He’s starting a school where a bunch of ambitious young AI-focused builders will come together in person.

Founded by Biyani, the Horowitz Andreessen Academy, or HAA, is an unaccredited alternative to college being incubated by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (also known as a16z), which is investing $35 million to launch it. The academy, based in San Francisco, expects to enroll about 50 students in a tuition-free, one-year founding class in fall 2027, then expand to a two-year program in 2028, when tuition is expected to be comparable to that of elite private universities. HAA is seeking approval to operate from California’s Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, the state agency that oversees private postsecondary schools. It won’t award college degrees or credit.

“It’s the age of infinite doing,” Biyani tells Forbes of the philosophy behind HAA: AI allows individuals to accomplish things that once required more people, money or specialized expertise. But he thinks that puts a premium not just on technical skills, but on initiative and knowing how to deal with other humans. “In an AI-native world where AI is at everyone’s fingertips, there’s going to be more of an emphasis on human interaction,” he says. (That’s the same reason some in the university community believe humanities majors, which have seen enrollment slide in popularity, are poised to make a comeback.)

The academy is looking for students with “proof of work”—young people who are “builders through and through,” says Biyani, high school graduates who say, “‘I don’t want to do another four years of this. I want to push myself forward.’”