“My parents were students during a revolution in Iran, and as a result they were not able to follow their educational and career dreams. They started over in a new country, figuring everything out without mentorship. I grew up believing education and mentorship can transform lives, helping people reach their potential, contribute to humanity, and achieve their dreams.

Over the past decade, education has become much more accessible. I saw this firsthand co-teaching AI classes at Stanford with Andrew Ng and creating online courses completed by millions through DeepLearning.AI.

Access to great content is valuable, but mentorship is an entirely different challenge—and it remains scarce worldwide. When I arrived at Stanford, I was amazed by the abundance of expert mentors who assess skills and guide students toward remarkable achievements. This inspired me to use AI to scale mentorship and bring skills-based approaches to the global workforce.

Companies especially need this. Precisely understanding skills not only helps employees learn faster and make better career decisions, it also enables organizations to align people with the right projects, teams, and mentors—or help them become mentors themselves. I believe companies will inevitably become skills-based, using skills data to create happier, more efficient teams.

That’s why we built Workera. I hope you’ll join us—whether as a team member, customer, or partner—on this journey to help humanity achieve its fullest potential!“

Kian Katanforoosh.
Founder and CEO, Workera.