19-year-old innovator teams up with 11-year-old to launch AI startup helping teachers

KTVT, CO-GUIDE, CNN

By Nicole Nielsen

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    Texas (KTVT) — Schools nationwide are facing teacher burnout and staffing shortages, leaving classrooms stretched thin.

But here in North Texas, a 19-year-old and an 11-year-old believe they may have found a solution — through artificial intelligence.

Nineteen-year-old Janak Panchal and 11-year-old Rishan Dutia have co-founded Co-Guide, an AI startup designed to support educators. Their product, Smart Classroom, is currently being tested at The Humanist Academy in Irving, a micro-school known for its experiential learning model where the two first met.

AI assistant aims to ease workload “[Teachers are] overworked, stressed, and we demand so much from them,” Panchal said. “On average, teachers will spend about ten hours a week just putting on YouTube videos or multimedia content, and that’s if they’re even present in the classroom.”

The pair said they quickly discovered they made a strong team, using their shared interest in technology to address the growing challenges in education.

“Every time I see a problem, it’s like a puzzle, and I can fix it with technology,” Dutia said.

Smart Classroom supports, not replaces Smart Classroom is an AI-powered teaching assistant meant to ease workloads—not replace teachers.

The device, placed at the front of the classroom, uses a webcam to map students with geometric shapes instead of faces, ensuring privacy with no recordings. Teachers can type in any topic of discussion, and Smart Classroom leads conversations, calls on specific students, and provides real-time feedback about engagement—all while giving educators time to grade, plan lessons or focus on other needs.

“The teacher is still the brain behind it,” Panchal said. “This is only executing it.”

Looking ahead to broader impact They estimate the Smart Classroom tool can help save teachers an average of 10 hours per week, while also offering lessons in 32 languages.

“To every single teacher out there, we’re here to help. We’re here to make your lives better,” Panchal said.

The co-founders say they’re just getting started, with hopes to expand the reach of their technology.

“Just taking one extra thing off a teacher’s plate could really help inspire the next generation better,” Dutia said.

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