Education Keynote Speaker
The education industry is at a pivotal crossroad. For a customized keynote that is energizing, impactful, and actionable – book Kaihan for your next education event or conference.














Speaker
Education Keynote Speaker
A first generation American of a Bangladeshi mother and German father (who himself has been teaching at UPenn’s Annenburg School for over 50 years), Kaihan was fortunate to have grown up in a household that values education. He has personal experience in both public and private education having attended K-12 public school in New Haven, CT and then earning advanced degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton, Columbia Business School, London Business School and Abo Akademi in Finland. He is an adjunct professor at NYU, FIU, and other business school internationally. The father of three young teens, Kaihan Krippendorff is a fierce proponent of education and passionate about building a system that is sustainable and works for all.
Kaihan Krippendorff has worked with and taught for some of the biggest brands in education including: Macmillan, Springer Nature, Harvard Business Review, NYU, Florida International University, Wharton Executive Education, Universidad Americana, Cajon Valley Union School District, Columbia Business School, The Institute of Management Studies, the Irish Management Institute, and the Entrepreneurs Organization Masters Program.
The education industry is experiencing dramatic changes, disruptions, and competition from unlikely areas. Digitally integrated campuses, interactivity and gamification, nano-learning, personalized learning, labor shortages, the debate of experience over education, affordability-financing and student loans are all top of mind. When change happens there is opportunity to re-imagine business models, re-think how you engage employees, re-evaluate what impact your organization has on the world, and develop creative solutions to complex problems.
Selecting the right keynote speaker for your education event is one of the most important decisions you will make this year. Content, energy, ability to connect to an audience, and actionability are all important factors to consider. Former McKinsey Consultant, NYU Professor, bestselling author, and globally recognized authority on strategy, growth, and transformation, Kaihan Krippendorff will make your event an undeniable success with a customized education keynote that leverages his unique perspective and deep experience in the industry.
The time to act is now. Don’t just be a Thinker. Be an Outthinker.
An active leader in education, Kaihan brings deep industry experience, proprietary research, and exclusive insights to every keynote he delive
insights
Education Insights and Perspective
Context
- Nearly 25 percent of all Americans are enrolled students.
- There are close to 9 million teachers and education-based employees in the United States; the majority of these are kindergarten and elementary school teachers (Vault).
- The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that most digital education infrastructure has not been properly established to serve as a primary means of instruction and learning. Research by OneClass shows that about 75 percent of college students were unsatisfied with the quality of education they received when the pandemic forced them into an e-learning structure (Forbes).
- With a global shift towards a more digitally focused, hybrid learning format, the education industry, which is notoriously underdeveloped technologically, given it is one of the most “people-centric economic sectors” (HBR)—is due for a redesign (Forbes).

trends
Trends in Education
Digitally Integrated Campuses
Interactivity & Gamification
Nanolearning
Personalized Learning
Experience Over Education
Financing and Student Loans
trends
Kaihan's 8Ps Framework
Opportunities for disruption and innovation in the industry

Opportunity for Disruption : 5
- Are there new student or teacher demographics you can target with existing technology?
- How do students, parents, and other stakeholders perceive your school?
Opportunity for Disruption : 8
- How can you implement AR/VR applications into your current product lineup? How can you adapt your current offering to leverage AR/VR resources available to you?
- Are there ways in which you can pivot to offer gamified educational resources? Have you considered utilizing existing games to increase your reach and effectiveness?
- Do you have a plan to utilize AI/ML in any capacity to increase the value of your product offering?
- Have you designed a plan to increase your digital presence by making your product or service cross-platform and mobile-friendly?
Opportunity for Disruption : 8
- What elements of value comprise your pricing strategy, and how do they contribute to customer satisfaction?
- How do you offer creative ways to pay for the products or services you provide to students?
Opportunity for Disruption : 6
- How do you communicate with prospective families?
- What is your recruiting strategy?
Opportunity for Disruption : 9
- In what ways can you maximize your current resources to take advantage of short-form, high-density learning strategies? Consider digital platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. and the possibility of an internally developed platform.
- What adjustments are you making to your products, services, and/or strategies to take advantage of the changing theater of education? Are you prepared for the possibility of fully digital education?
Experience
Opportunity for Disruption : 7
- How does your program satisfy the emotional, physical, and social needs of students?
Opportunity for Disruption : 5
- How are you implementing personalization into your learning programs or products?
Opportunity for Disruption : 3
- What do you look for in employees?
- How do you reskill and train employees for a digital learning environment?


- Founded in 2015, the company gained 30,000 users within a few months. During COVID-19 quarantining, MasterClass increased tremendously in popularity.
- Leverages the perceived power value of influence versus accreditation by offering classes taught by internationally recognized “masters” in a certain profession (for example, cooking taught by Gordon Ramsay, acting taught by Natalie Portman, novel-writing taught by James Patterson, etc.)
- Provides access to content through a monthly membership (billed annually) costing $15 (as of this writing).
- Classes in total measure between two and five hours long; the lessons, on average, last 10 minutes, and there is an average of 20 per class.
- In addition to lessons, the classes include workbooks, assignments, and community activities.
- MasterClass content is streamable through mobile devices, personal computers, and streaming media players, and downloadable for offline use.
- In some classes, students are given the opportunity to submit their work to the instructor for critique.
- MasterClass offers personalized learning programs for customers using an entry survey.
- MasterClass is ahead of the curve by recognizing that many consumers perceive a higher value in learning from recognizable, accomplished figures over learning from educated professors.
- MasterClass is taking advantage of the nanolearning movement by offering high-density, short-form education in an easily accessible platform.

- Partners with educational institutions such as Duke University, Yale University, and the University of Michigan, and corporations such as Amazon Web Services, Google, and IBM to provide “self-paced guided projects” and courses over a variety of categories (US News).
- Certificates earned through courses completed on Coursera can be shared professionally on resumes, or connected with the student’s LinkedIn profile.
- Users can complete collegiate (bachelor’s and master’s) degrees and earn professional certificates, and Coursera work can count towards master’s programs at certain universities.
- Coursera users can also sign up to earn specializations, which allow them to complete a series of connected courses and projects on specific topics.
- As of this writing, Coursera offers over 1,600 free courses with certificates being offered for purchase upon completion. Courses resulting in certificates start around $49; guided projects with certificates are priced starting at $9.99; specializations and professional certificates start at $49 per month.
- Coursera offers “Coursera for Business,” which is a training and development plan providing workforce education at cost-per-user per year. They have also tapped opportunities in the governmental and educational sectors with “Coursera for Government” and “Coursera for Campus” offerings.
- From March to September of 2020, Coursera saw an approximate 400 percent increase in members, with 18 million people joining.

- The company was founded in 2012; it has funded more than $2B in student loans since.
- CommonBond offers loans for undergraduate and graduate degrees, medical and dental degrees, and refinancing.
- They offer a six-month grace period on payments from loan recipients who have graduated. Additionally, for those in a residency program, CommonBond allows full deferment of payments until after the program has been completed.
- For each loan or refinance made with CommonBond, the company pays the cost of education for a child in the developing world by partnering with Pencils of Promise in Ghana.
- CommonBond for Business provides companies with “customizable student loan benefits” to support employees who are in debt from school, with the goals of supporting employees in debt and assisting companies in attracting and retaining talent (CommonBond).
- They offer a “Flex contribution” plan in which employers can contribute directly to employee student loan payments or offer tax-advantaged 401(k) contributions.
- CommonBond for Business also includes a support tool for educating employees on financial literacy and decision-making.