Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
From the outside, the EdTech sector can look like a fast moving industry. New tools appear regularly, startups launch ambitious products which are reshaping education. Yet anyone who has spent time working in the sector knows that the reality is different. EdTech is closely tied to education systems. And education systems move slowly. Procurement cycles can take months or even years. Schools and governments are understandably cautious about adopting new tools. And building a product that becomes genuinely embedded in classrooms takes far longer than most founders expect.
This is one of the reasons why experience in the sector matters so much.
Understanding how education markets work, how schools make decisions, and how products actually become part of everyday teaching practice requires years of exposure to the EdTech ecosystem.
Few people understand these dynamics better than Steve Whitley, founder of EdTech Consulting. With more than forty years of experience in the education sector, Steve has worked with organisations across the UK and internationally, mentoring CEOs and founders, supporting sales and marketing strategies to help companies expand internationally and advising on product development in the education market.
Our recent conversation highlighted how the EdTech landscape is evolving and why experienced guidance remains essential for companies trying to navigate it.
The perception that EdTech moves quickly often comes from the number of new companies entering the market. But entering the market and succeeding in it are two very different things.
Selling into education typically involves long sales cycles, complex procurement processes and a high level of trust building. Schools want evidence that a product works. Governments require compliance with policy frameworks. Teachers want tools that genuinely support their work rather than create additional complexity.
Even after a product is adopted, making it truly “sticky” inside a school or education system takes time.
Teachers need to integrate it into lesson planning. School leaders need to see value. Students need to engage with it consistently. This slow adoption cycle means that many EdTech companies underestimate the time required to scale. It also explains why experienced advisors who understand how education markets operate can play such an important role in helping founders develop realistic strategies.
In recent years, many EdTech companies have increasingly looked beyond their home markets.
Part of this shift is driven by opportunity. Education systems across Asia, the Middle East and parts of Europe are investing heavily in digital learning infrastructure.
Part of it is also driven by geopolitical and economic factors. The global education market is evolving, and companies are exploring where new growth opportunities might emerge.
Regions such as the Gulf states, India and Southeast Asia are becoming particularly attractive for education technology providers due to their growing investments in digital education and workforce development.
However, international expansion introduces a new layer of complexity.
Selling to schools in the UK requires a very different approach from selling into government tenders in the Middle East or working through distributor networks in Asia.
Steve’s consulting work often focuses on helping companies navigate exactly these challenges. His projects include helping organisations identify viable international markets, build distributor partnerships and structure market entry strategies that reflect the realities of each region.
One of the most common mistakes companies make when expanding internationally is assuming their product can simply be exported from one market to another.
In reality, cultural context can significantly influence how a product is received.
Small design decisions, imagery or language choices that seem neutral in one market can be problematic in another.
During our discussion, Steve shared examples that illustrate how cultural sensitivity affects product adaptation. Educational tools that include certain symbols or themes may need to be modified depending on the cultural norms of the country where they are introduced.
These adjustments are not about censorship. They are about ensuring that products are appropriate and accepted within the context of the education system they are entering.
Companies that overlook these nuances often struggle to gain traction internationally.
Those that invest the time to understand local expectations tend to build stronger partnerships and achieve more sustainable growth.
Another interesting aspect of the EdTech industry is how small the ecosystem can feel.
Despite operating globally, the sector often functions as a tightly connected network where professionals move between companies and relationships carry significant weight.
This closeness can be beneficial because it allows knowledge to spread quickly across the sector.
However, it can also create blind spots.
Startups often begin by engaging widely with the ecosystem, attending events and learning from peers. As companies grow, they sometimes become more inward looking and less connected to the broader industry conversation.
Consultants who work across multiple organisations often provide an important external perspective.
Because they engage with a wide range of companies, markets and customers, they can identify patterns and emerging trends that individual organisations might miss.
In that sense, they act as connectors within the EdTech ecosystem.
While education systems tend to change slowly, the emergence of artificial intelligence is accelerating certain aspects of innovation.
AI has the potential to reshape how educational products are designed, particularly when it is integrated into the learning journey rather than added as a superficial feature.
Many early stage EdTech companies are building AI directly into the core of their products. These organisations often have the advantage of starting with a blank slate.
More established companies face a different challenge. They must adapt existing platforms that were built long before AI became widely accessible.
This difference in agility is beginning to show.
Some AI powered tools are demonstrating clear benefits for educators, particularly when they help teachers save time on tasks such as lesson preparation or resource creation.
At the same time, educators are becoming increasingly skeptical of products that simply add AI features without clear value.
The most successful products are likely to be those that use AI to genuinely improve learning experiences or reduce teacher workload rather than simply following a technology trend.
Because the EdTech sector sits at the intersection of technology, education and policy, it requires a unique combination of knowledge. Understanding the sector deeply takes time. It requires familiarity with education systems, relationships with educators, awareness of procurement processes and a clear view of how products are used in classrooms.
This type of insight cannot be gained quickly.
It develops over decades of working within the sector and observing how it evolves.
This is why advisors like Steve Whitley continue to play an important role for many EdTech companies.
Through his consulting work, Steve supports organisations with mentoring, strategy development, international market entry, product development and distribution planning. Over the years he has worked with a range of organisations including Action Mats, British Science Association, Welbee ,Central books and many others.
His work often involves helping founders step back and look at the bigger picture.
Where should the company expand?
Which markets are realistic targets?
How should the product be adapted for different audiences?
What distribution model will work best?
These are questions that require not only analytical thinking but also deep sector experience.
EdTech is entering another period of transformation. AI is opening new possibilities for personalised learning. International markets are becoming more important for growth. And educators are becoming increasingly selective about the technologies they adopt.
In this environment, innovation alone is not enough.
Companies also need people who understand the education ecosystem and can help them navigate it effectively.
For founders entering the sector today, working with experienced advisors can provide valuable guidance and help avoid many of the mistakes that others have already made.
And for a sector that moves slowly but evolves continuously, that experience can make all the difference.
If you would like more info, Steve can be reached at steve@edtechconsulting.co.uk, https://edtechconsulting.co.uk.
Connect with Steve on LinkedIn
