Send us a text

Ivan Crewkov is the CEO and Co-Founder of Buddy.ai, the leading AI tutor for kids under 12, reaching over 20 million students annually from all over the world. Buddy is not just a chatbot. It’s an AI-powered talking animated character in a mobile app teaching English as a foreign language to students all over the world.  Buddy is unique because it operates in a highly regulated environment where most off-the-shelf AIs like Chat GPT can't be used.

💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:

1. From voice AI experiment to global learning companion
2. Building child-focused speech recognition in a regulated space
3. Blending gaming, storytelling, and education to engage kids
4. Buddy.ai’s growing adoption in classrooms worldwide
5. The future of Buddy.ai as a personalized, adaptive tutor

✨ Episode Highlights:
 [00:02:11] Ivan Crewkov’s journey from building smart speakers to founding Buddy.ai.
[00:04:24] Designing Buddy.ai as more than a chatbot—a gamified, lovable learning companion.
[00:07:27] How kids around the world discover and champion Buddy.ai themselves.
[00:11:02] Expanding Buddy.ai into classrooms in Latin America and beyond.
[00:16:41] Building proprietary speech recognition for children where others struggled.
[00:20:56] Buddy.ai’s unexpected role in speech therapy for kids with special needs.
[00:25:50] Why Buddy is designed as a study buddy, not an authority figure.
[00:33:37] Using generative AI to accelerate content creation and storytelling.
[00:39:00] Guardrails for safe, child-centered AI companions.
[00:42:01] Lessons EdTech can learn from the entertainment and gaming industries.

😎 Stay updated with Edtech Insiders! 

• Follow our Podcast on:
  • Apple Podcasts
  • Spotify
  • Amazon Music
• Sign up for the Edtech Insiders newsletter.
• Follow

This season of Edtech Insiders is once again brought to you by Tuck Advisors, the M&A firm for EdTech companies. Run by serial entrepreneurs with over 30 years of experience founding, investing in, and selling companies, Tuck believes you deserve M&A advisors who work as hard as you do.

Ednition helps EdTech companies reclaim rostering and own their integrations. Through its flagship platform, RosterStream, Ednition replaces costly data providers and complex internal infrastructure with direct, secure connections to any SIS or data source. The result: scalable integrations, lower costs, and seamless experiences for schools and districts of every size. With Ednition: Reclaim rostering. Own your integrations. Cut the cost.

Innovation in preK to gray learning is powered by exceptional people. For over 15 years, EdTech companies of all sizes and stages have trusted HireEducation to find the talent that drives impact. When specific skills and experiences are mission-critical, HireEducation is a partner that delivers. Offering permanent, fractional, and executive recruitment, HireEducation knows the go-to-market talent you need. Learn more at HireEdu.com.