Our next #FinnemoreFireside features Tom Raithby, Founder of chalkd.Ai and also Strategic Lead for Ai, Learning Coordinator & Teacher of PE at Frederick Gough School.

Tom shares his journey from PE teacher and pastoral leader to founder of an AI-powered edtech platform, reflecting on how a classroom frustration became a product now being used by schools and colleges. Along the way, he and Nick discuss:

• How a challenge familiar to many teachers sparked the original idea behind Chalkd and why solving that problem became a personal mission.
• The role emerging AI tools played in turning a concept that once felt impossible into a working product.
• What it was really like building a platform without a background in software development and the lessons learned along the way.
• Why teachers may be better positioned than they realise to identify problems worth solving and create practical solutions.
• The realities of launching an edtech product while continuing to work full-time in a busy school environment.
• How feedback from schools and colleges has influenced the development of the platform and shaped its future direction.
• The opportunities and challenges facing educators who want to turn ideas into products in an age of AI-assisted development.
• Why the barriers to creating software are changing rapidly and what that could mean for the future of innovation in education.