Editorial illustration for Ex-Google Exec Peeyush Ranjan Launches AI EdTech Fermi.ai in India, USA
Ex-Google Exec Peeyush Ranjan Launches AI EdTech...
Education technology has spent years speeding up answers. A new startup wants to slow everything down.
Peeyush Ranjan, who ran tech at Google and Flipkart, thinks the race for quick solutions is making understanding worse. His company, Fermi.ai, doesn't just grade. It dissects a student's logic, finds the exact moment it fails, and offers a nudge instead of an answer.
The tools are practical. There's a digital canvas for handwritten equations. An adaptive tutor gives hints that lead, not tell.
Analytics flag broken reasoning before it becomes a habit.
The platform uses AI to analyse how a student arrives at an answer, identifying gaps in reasoning and offering step-by-step guidance instead of direct solutions. "Students today are getting answers faster than ever, but their understanding is getting weaker," Ranjan said, who has also served as CTO of Flipkart and held leadership roles at Airbnb. "We built Fermi.ai to support thinking, not replace it, and to give educators visibility into struggles that usually stay hidden." The startup has emerged from Meraki Labs, where Ranjan partners with entrepreneur Mukesh Bansal, founder of Myntra.
Bansal said Fermi.ai focuses on mapping a student's thought process rather than solving problems for them. "It's about showing students how they think, and helping teachers guide them back to mastery," he noted. Bansal also launched Nurix, which is another emerging AI startup focused on building AI-native consumer and internet products.
Fermi.ai's platform is built around four core components: an adaptive real-time tutor that provides pedagogically guided hints, a stylus-first smart canvas designed for handwritten equations and diagrams, a concept-linked question bank aligned with exams such as AP, IB and JEE, and an analytics layer that pinpoints where student reasoning breaks down. Before its public launch, the company conducted a three-month pilot with 79 students, covering over 15,000 concept tests. According to the startup, students who initially struggled showed an average improvement of 4.68 points by their final attempts, while heavy users demonstrated higher mastery gains and reduced dependence on hints.
The cloud-based platform is currently available for free at fermi.ai, with a dedicated pilot programme for educators launching in 2026.
The pilot results are specific. Seventy-nine students. Fifteen thousand concept tests.
Those who used it heavily gained an average of 4.68 points. They also asked for fewer hints over time. These aren't vague claims.
They're a quiet argument for a different approach.
Ranjan and his co-founder Mukesh Bansal are betting teachers want a map of the struggle, not just a final score. The platform is free right now. A formal pilot for educators starts in 2026.
If their gamble works, it could prove that the most useful thing AI can offer a student isn't an answer. It's a reflection.
Common Questions Answered
What is Fermi.ai's approach to education technology different from other EdTech platforms?
Fermi.ai focuses on slowing down the learning process to improve understanding rather than racing for quick answers. The platform dissects a student's logic, identifies the exact moment their reasoning fails, and provides targeted nudges instead of just grading or providing direct solutions. This approach emphasizes mapping the student's struggle and learning journey rather than simply delivering final scores.
Who founded Fermi.ai and what is their background?
Fermi.ai was founded by Peeyush Ranjan, who previously ran tech operations at Google and Flipkart, along with co-founder Mukesh Bansal. Ranjan's experience at major tech companies informed his belief that the current race for quick solutions in education is actually making understanding worse, leading him to create a platform with a fundamentally different philosophy.
What were the specific results from Fermi.ai's pilot program?
The pilot program involved seventy-nine students who completed fifteen thousand concept tests using the platform. Students who used Fermi.ai heavily gained an average of 4.68 points and notably asked for fewer hints over time, suggesting they were developing greater independence and understanding. These concrete metrics demonstrate the effectiveness of the platform's diagnostic and nudge-based approach.
When will Fermi.ai's formal pilot for educators begin?
A formal pilot program for educators is scheduled to start in 2026. Currently, the platform is available for free to users, allowing the founders to gather additional data and refine their approach before the official educator pilot launch.
Further Reading
- Papers with Code - Latest NLP Research — Papers with Code
- Hugging Face Daily Papers — Hugging Face
- ArXiv CS.CL (Computation and Language) — ArXiv