Even after one of the most turbulent periods in the edtech sector, the founder believes the story isn’t over
Having built a company that reached 250 million students globally, BYJU’S cofounder Divya Gokulnath says rebuilding is possible
“We built something from nothing,” she says. “There’s no reason we cannot rebuild again"
If we want to see more women in tech leadership, the intervention must begin in classrooms, not boardrooms, says BYJU’S cofounder Divya Gokulnath. Speaking in an interview with Outlook Business on the occasion of Women’s Day 2026, she also reflects on the evolution of India’s edtech sector.
She traces the journey back to a time when edtech companies had to first convince people that online learning itself could work. Today, Gokulnath notes, technology has entered almost every home, dramatically expanding access to education.
2 March 2026
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“There was a time when people did not even know what edtech was. In those early days, we had to sell technology, sell education, and even sell the idea of online learning itself,” she said.
The past few years, however, have been far from smooth for the company. Legal disputes, financial pressures, and intense scrutiny have raised questions about the sustainability of the edtech boom and the credibility of the ecosystem it helped popularise.
Gokulnath acknowledges the challenges but remains optimistic about what lies ahead. “We built something from nothing,” she says. “There’s no reason we cannot rebuild again.”
While she stops short of revealing details about what some have dubbed “ BYJU’S 3.0”, she signals that the next chapter will remain firmly rooted in education.
Edited Excerpts:
You have seen the edtech sector evolve closely. What has stayed constant through this journey?
The most important thing that does not change is the impact you create in students’ lives. A company may teach a thousand students or even a million students, but what matters is staying true to the purpose you started with.
I have seen edtech evolve significantly. There was a time when people did not even know what edtech was. In those early days, we had to sell technology, sell education, and even sell the idea of online learning itself.
Today, technology has entered almost every home. The journey has been strong and upward, but the importance of education has remained constant. What I would have liked to see change more, however, is how we judge outcomes. We often focus too much on results rather than the effort students put in.
How AI is helping identify and scale potential excites me the most. A great teacher can now reach learners anywhere in the world. Technology has made learning far more accessible, and that’s why I believe this is truly the time for edtech.
What has been the biggest myth about being a woman entrepreneur, according to your experience?
In many situations, especially in the early years of technology and scale-oriented conversations, I was often one of the few women in the room. Sometimes expectations were higher, but I treated that as a benchmark. I used to strengthen my subject depth and improve the product.
Over time, I realised that credibility compounds with consistent execution. Deep domain expertise builds confidence across all stakeholders. In education, the stakeholder is not just the student; it’s the entire family, including the parents.
When we built products that delivered outcomes, where over 80–90% of students improved their grades, it built trust. Grades themselves are not the goal, but they reflect the additional effort the child has put in and the impact of the learning process.
How did you balance entrepreneurship and motherhood over the years?
When I started, I was a single individual building the company. Over the last 18-20 years, I have had three children. Balancing entrepreneurship alongside motherhood requires prioritisation.
But being a mother also teaches you the value of time. When you are a parent, you design products with the mindset that your own family might use them. That perspective becomes very important.
Personally, I never tried to be the loudest voice in the room. I focused on being the most prepared. You may not always peak, but you must consistently add value.
Has motherhood changed the way you approach business?
Yes, definitely for the better. Becoming a mother helped me understand how women, especially mothers, can bring strong empathy into education.
Education as a sector naturally attracts more women. I often prioritised hiring women who were mothers as teachers because they brought a natural sense of care and connection. Parents would sometimes say that a teacher felt like a second parent to their child.
Teaching is a deeply human activity. Before a child learns from you, they must trust you. Subject expertise is essential, but empathy and connection are equally important.
At Byju’s, content and teaching teams were heavily skewed toward women. At the same time, we made conscious efforts to create more opportunities for women in tech, product, and leadership roles as well.
Did being a woman entrepreneur ever feel like an advantage, or was it more pressure?
It was both. In many situations, you feel the need to prove yourself more. You can’t just perform well, you often feel you must overperform.
But diverse leadership teams are important because they do not eliminate risk, they improve how risk is understood. I am not someone who argues for quotas, but I do strongly believe that talent is evenly distributed while opportunity often isn’t.
If we want to see more women in tech leadership, the intervention must begin in classrooms, not boardrooms. By the time we discuss representation at the boardroom level, it’s already too late.
How did you personally deal with the crisis and legal challenges of Byju’s in the past few years?
It was very difficult, and of course, it affected my personal life. The challenge isn’t always what people say publicly, you can ignore that if you know your intent is right.
The real difficulty comes when your family reads those things and has to face society. That’s when the pressure becomes real.
But we built something from nothing, so there’s no reason we cannot rebuild again. I genuinely believe this is the golden era of entrepreneurship, better than 20, 15, or even 10 years ago.
What keeps you going during such times is faith and hope. The moment you believe it’s over, it becomes over. But if you have hope and faith in yourself and in God, you keep moving forward.
How do you plan to rebuild credibility within the edtech ecosystem?
Credibility is the most important thing. Edtech as a segment gained global attention partly because of the scale we created.
If we could help build a segment that didn’t exist earlier, then rebuilding credibility is also possible. The focus will remain on the product and the learning impact.
We have always preferred to let our work speak. Even in the past, we didn’t do many interviews because we were focused on building. That approach will remain the same, let the work do the talking.
Over time, the impact becomes visible. We reached over 250 million students, and even today, many educational searches online still lead to our content because of the strong domain authority built over the years.
What steps did you take to ensure more women employees could grow at Byju’s?
Education historically attracts strong participation from women, especially in teaching and content roles. The real challenge is helping women transition into areas like technology, analytics, product strategy, and leadership.
We focused on building career pathways to enable this mobility. That included mentorship programs, leadership development initiatives, and flexible working structures.
After Covid-19, for example, many teachers worked entirely from home. Flexibility became a key enabler in retaining high-performing talent, particularly during life transitions like parenthood.
Looking back, are there decisions you would approach differently, especially when it comes to Byju’s acquisitions?
We acquired over 20 companies, and there are broadly two ways you can approach acquisitions. One approach is what I would call the Elon Musk route, and the other was the approach we followed.
Our approach was to allow founders to retain control and continue running their companies with their own culture. We believed that culture cannot easily be integrated or imposed. When you try to force integration, you risk damaging what the company has built over time. So, we allowed the teams to continue operating independently without significantly cutting numbers or changing structures.
In hindsight, that approach works very well if funding is unlimited. But if you look at what Elon Musk did with Twitter, he took a very different path.
You can always say that some decisions could have been made differently. For instance, could we have kept only the core teams, product, and technology, and then rebuilt from there? That is something you think about later.
But the reality is that decisions are made based on the circumstances at that time. It’s easy to evaluate them with hindsight, but you cannot dwell on the past for too long. The world has changed, and today we have to think about the future based on current realities and capabilities.
What advice would you give women professionals in today’s AI-driven world?
AI is a big enabler, especially for women. Earlier, only senior executives could afford support systems like a chief of staff or executive assistant. Today, AI tools can help automate operational work.
If women learn how to use these tools effectively, they can outsource routine tasks and focus their time on higher-value work, their families, and their own growth.
This is truly the golden age to learn new tools and take advantage of technology.
What policy changes could encourage more women entrepreneurs in India?
India already has initiatives like Startup India and the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, along with several programs aimed at supporting women entrepreneurs.
However, there are a few areas where further improvements could make a big difference. One is dedicated access to capital for women founders. Another is childcare infrastructure, affordable and high-quality childcare should be treated as economic infrastructure.
We also need stronger STEM encouragement for girls from middle school onward, including scholarships and mentorship. And finally, structured “returnship” programs for women who take career breaks would help many talented professionals re-enter the workforce.
Have you ever faced gender bias while raising funds?
Personally, I have been fortunate not to face direct bias based on gender. But I have heard stories where women founders faced it. For example, in husband-wife founding teams where investors direct financial questions to the husband even when the wife is the CFO.
More broadly, leadership traits are sometimes judged differently depending on gender. Aggressive men are often called visionary, while aggressive women can be labeled negatively.
Leadership traits should be viewed as neutral, not defined by whether they are associated with men or women.
