Here's a summary of the themes from the Hacker News discussion:
Legacy Systems and Integration Challenges
A core problem identified in higher education is the reliance on numerous legacy systems that often fail to integrate with each other. This necessitates manual processes, like using spreadsheets, which could otherwise be easily automated.
- "The key issue for the sector is the tens of legacy systems that don't integrate with each other, often with manual spreadsheet processes that could be easily automated." - lanceflt
- "Completely agreed, that is one of the biggest challenges in this industry! And it's surprising how many software systems are being used by higher education that aren't designed or built for them." - danialasif
The Role and Limitations of LLMs in EdTech
While there's potential for LLMs to improve how data is presented and processed, some users expressed skepticism about their current ability to provide truly insightful recommendations. The generic nature of LLM outputs, especially when lacking specific context, was a recurring concern.
- "The recommendations don't look very insightful, and seem like a rephrasing/summary of the alert above it. For example the first student who has account holds, bad grades, etc. the recommendation is just to schedule a meeting. I don't think the LLM will be able to provide super insightful recommendations." - asdev
- "Even in the improvement plan generated by the agent, the steps seemed pretty generic(as expected from LLMs)." - asdev
- "That is great feedback, and agreed that LLMs definitely have generic outputs, especially if missing the right context." - danialasif
- "We do think you have value in pulling in the disparate data sources and using LLMs to present the data in a clean way to the advisor/user." - asdev
Addressing Incumbent Vendors and Competitive Landscape
Existing Student Information System (SIS) and Learning Management System (LMS) vendors are increasingly incorporating AI features. Startups in this space need to differentiate by addressing the "integration tax," operational burdens, and cost creep associated with these larger platforms.
- "All of those system of records are adding exactly those capabilities and bundling them at no extra cost. How do you plan on overcoming that?" - ceffio
- "You're right, incumbent SIS/LMS vendors are rolling out AI features. We’ve studied (and, in my past life at Salesforce, helped build) some of them. What we keep hearing from IT teams is: - Integration tax... - Operational burden... - Cost creep..." - sadiasaifuddin
- "You’re right that the big SIS and ERP vendors are building their own AI features, but at the end of the day institutions own their data and expect interoperability across systems." - danialasif
The Higher Education Sales Cycle and Market Appetite
There's a common perception that the edtech market has slow, bureaucratic sales cycles and potentially low willingness to pay. However, some insights suggest that universities have a strong appetite for technology that genuinely improves staff efficiency and student outcomes, provided it's presented effectively.
- "How's it like working with schools/universities as a startup? I've always heard edtech can be a slow, bureaucratic sales cycle (and maybe not a high willingness to pay?)" - Lienetic
- "That was one of our assumptions too, since you often hear about long cycles and low willingness to pay. Once we started gathering feedback and learning about the pain points, we found a strong appetite for technology that makes jobs easier and more effective." - danialasif
- "Staff and administrators are also just people working in critical functions. When the tools help with their day-to-day job functions, the willingness to adopt is there." - danialasif
Data Integration and Interoperability as a "System of Work"
A key value proposition discussed is creating an "interoperable layer" that sits on top of existing systems, rather than becoming another source of truth. This approach aims to streamline cross-system tasks and provide a unified "system of work" that leverages LLMs and agents.
- "I'm 10+ years into IT in higher ed. I'm intrigued by the ideas here. Do you envision Risely being entirely a reporting system that runs against existing systems and data, or do you envision Risely being another source of truth where some data lives?" - xd1936
- "We're a small non-profit liberal arts school, and we already have 70+ integrations feeding to and from the various sources of truth and systems of record. It's a mess." - xd1936
- "We don't intend to be a system of record, we fully recognize that higher education has deep integrations with systems of record that contain complex business rules. We intend to be an interoperable layer that sits on top of these systems, and allows users to not only surface valuable insights but also take actions within those systems in a secure and compliant way." - danialasif
- "You can think of it less as reporting and more as a “system of work” that leverages LLMs and agents to streamline the messy, cross-system tasks that slow people down today." - danialasif
Navigating Data Access from Core Systems
Gaining access to data from core systems like Workday and PeopleSoft is a challenge, especially as these vendors develop their own AI capabilities. Successful strategies involve utilizing existing APIs and integration layers provided by institutions, rather than seeking special vendor access.
- "How did you get workday, peoplesoft etc. to give the data to you? I assume all these companies do not like to share data, since as someone else also pointed out that each of these system of records are adding AI capabilities and bundling them." - pacifi30
- "Where those systems are more closed, we work with the institution to find creative but still sanctioned paths such as through their integration hub or data warehouse. That way we are not asking the vendor for special access, just making better use of the plumbing that is already there." - danialasif