Expansion goals: Coaching biggies and edtech cos catering to K-12, JEE, NEET and CUET segments move beyond faculty wars

Coaching biggies and edtech companies catering to the K-12/ IIT-JEE/NEET/CUET segments are now moving beyond faculty wars to aggressively onboard leadership talent to steer business expansion and growth.

Allen, Infinity Learn by Sri Chaitanya, Motion Education and Career Point are among those beefing up their leadership teams, with talent not just from competitors, but also the likes of Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta and Flipkart, as they drive a bigger footprint and stronger technology play.

On offer are high salaries, professional development opportunities and ESOPs as companies look to hire CXOs and business heads across segments.


In the last year, Allen hired Nitin Kukreja as CEO and Abha Maheshwari, earlier with Meta, as CEO Digital. Over the past six months, it has recruited talent from leading consumer tech companies, including Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, Flipkart, Samsung, Twitter (now X) and others.

“Our primary focus is on establishing Allen as a leader in transforming education, leading with technology, and strengthening our leadership team,” said an Allen spokesperson, adding that they will continue to add talent across technology, product and academics, with special emphasis on AI and Machine Learning.

Allen’s technology and product teams in Bengaluru are set to scale up to 300 members by the end of the year, double the current 150-levels.

Over the next six months, hybrid learning platform Infinity Learn by Sri Chaitanya will be hiring an additional 600 people to bolster its workforce, among them approximately 25-30 mid-senior level professionals.

“The focus will be on talent with a combination of expertise and leadership capabilities to navigate complex operational challenges and drive innovation,” said Ujjwal Singh, founding CEO, Infinity Learn by Sri Chaitanya. Recent additions to the leadership team who joined in January include Ravikanth Kanchibhotla, ex-CEO of FIITJEE eSchool, who joined as the Head of Test Prep Segment, and Abhishek Chhabra, former business head, UpGrad, who was hired as Head of K-10 Segment.

“Over the past six months, we've been actively fortifying our leadership cadre, recognising the pivotal role strong leadership plays in our organisational success,” said Singh. They’ve hired 20 persons for key leadership positions during this period, he said.

Traditional coaching players from the country’s coaching capital Kota are also bullish.

Motion Kota, for instance, is expanding its reach to attract senior professionals from leading multinationals in both tech and non-tech sectors. It is looking to fill roles that include chief operating officer (COO), chief marketing officer (CMO) and chief strategy officer (CSO).

“We are not simply seeking conventional leaders; rather, we are actively searching for individuals capable of introducing innovative ideas and collaborating effectively,” said Nitin Vijay, founder and CEO, Motion Kota. “Our hiring numbers have skyrocketed, with approximately 70% of the positions for non-academic roles and the remaining 30% for academic positions.”

Another Kota player, Career Point, recently onboarded Ashish Jha from Aakash Educational Services as the vice-president business operations.

“We are always on the lookout for good senior talent to expand our education business. Currently, we are aggressively searching for leadership talent to lead our upcoming skilling and upskilling verticals to be launched in coming months,” said Pramod Maheshwari, founder-director, Career Point.