What if the future of learning wasn’t just faster—but also more human?
In this episode of Thinkering Minds, Jim McGuire sits down with Jarred Geller, former pre-K teacher turned Head of Marketing at Synthesis, to explore what it means to personalize education in the age of AI. Jarred's journey, from building grassroots curriculum to scaling a cutting-edge Tutor powered by AI, offers a compelling roadmap for what’s possible when you pair intuitive learning design with real human connection.
From the Classroom to the Codebase
Jarred’s first encounter with education wasn’t through edtech—it was through empathy. He entered a pre-K classroom via Teach for America with no formal training in education, but a business background and a deep desire to connect with students. That outsider perspective helped him rebuild the learning experience from first principles. The goal? Get kids to fall in love with learning. Not by checking boxes, but by exposing them to a world of ideas—entrepreneurship, nature, community, and beyond.
Enter: Synthesis
After stints in curriculum design, Jarred joined Synthesis—an education company born from Elon Musk’s experimental Ad Astra school at SpaceX. There, he helped build Synthesis Teams—collaborative, game-based problem-solving platforms—and later moved into Synthesis Tutor, an AI-powered math platform that adapts to each student’s learning needs in real-time.
But what makes Synthesis special isn’t just the tech—it’s the tone.
AI That Listens First
Unlike gamified drill apps or digitized worksheets, Synthesis Tutor treats education as a conversation. It responds with care. “The tone is the heartbeat,” Jarred explains. The Tutor celebrates effort, respects misunderstandings, and scaffolds concepts until they click. That’s why it resonates so strongly with neurodivergent learners, students with ADHD or ASD, and anyone who has ever felt left behind in a traditional classroom.
The Tutor doesn’t just teach—it sees you.
Watch part 2:
The Two-Sigma Shift
Jarred references Bloom’s “Two Sigma Problem”—the idea that students with 1:1 tutoring perform two standard deviations better than those in traditional classrooms. That’s the promise behind Synthesis Tutor: not just better outcomes, but faster, more meaningful progress—with less stress, more grace, and real comprehension.
This isn’t about acceleration for acceleration’s sake. It’s about freeing learners to chase their curiosity and reclaim their time.
Human-Centric Learning at Scale
While the world debates the risks and noise around AI in schools, Synthesis is taking a principled approach. Human-crafted lessons. Guardrails on generative models. No personal data leaks. What emerges is a rare hybrid: a deeply personal, rigorously developed platform that amplifies, rather than replaces, what makes learning special.
In Jarred’s words, “The story we want to tell in five years? We changed education—not by speeding it up, but by humanizing it.”
- Jim
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