Do Students Succeed Because of Us—or In Spite of Us? Nicolás Elton from uPlanner on Going From Ranking to Caring

Nico, thank you for joining us on EdTech Mentor. It’s a special moment—not just because of the conversation, but because this is our first time recording live. So thanks again for being part of it.

I love that you invited me. It’s an honor to be the first in-person guest.

Let’s start with a little about yourself—your background, your family.

Where to begin? I may look young, but I grew up in the '90s—probably one of the last generations to have a fully analog childhood before going digital. I grew up in Chile, in a very traditional family, which naturally led me to study engineering, even though I’ve always loved the arts. Now that I work in education and EdTech, I often look back and think how hard it was back then to choose a path based on what you loved. It was always the traditional careers: medicine, law, engineering. And that’s how I ended up where I am.

What led you into the EdTech space?

It was a winding path. Even though engineering came easy to me, it never really felt like a passion. After graduating, I went back to the university—not as a student, but to teach. I loved it. That pulled me deeper into the world of education. I pursued further studies in innovation, entrepreneurship, and tech transfer at Oxford, which opened my eyes to how knowledge from academia can make its way into the world. That’s also when I reconnected with Juan Pablo Mena, and he invited me to join uPlanner. It’s been 10 years since.

For anyone who doesn’t know uPlanner—although I imagine most in Latin America do—what does the company do?

We work primarily with higher education. Our tech helps universities become more efficient by unlocking the value of their own data and improving internal processes. Our solutions focus on areas often overlooked by major tech providers—like campus efficiency and curriculum management. We’re a Chilean company, and today, uPlanner is the largest EdTech in Latin America’s higher ed space.

Can you give an example? Efficiency can be hard to explain.

Sure—and that question actually points to the core issue. Ask any university president their top goal, and they’ll often say: “Increase enrollment by 20%.” My next question is: “Where will you put those students?” The answer is usually: “We don’t know.” Globally, universities typically use just 60% of their facilities. Not because they want to—but because it’s hard to match student schedules with faculty and room availability. We solve that. We help institutions reorganize and optimize so they can increase enrollment—sometimes by 11–15%—without adding classrooms or hiring more faculty.

Especially important post-pandemic, with so many hybrid and online formats in play.

Exactly. Hybrid learning adds complexity. Now we’re dealing with multiple campuses, sometimes in different cities. Imagine coordinating a single course across 20 campuses with both physical and virtual options. It’s a fascinating optimization challenge.

Tell us about your evolution within uPlanner and your current role.

I joined to help with curriculum design, something I had been working on in academia, including accreditation and quality assurance. One of uPlanner’s solutions is around accreditation, so that’s where I began. Fast forward to today: I’m now the Chief Commercial Officer—something I never imagined, given my academic roots. But I’ve found purpose in telling the story, doing consultative sales, and helping institutions solve real problems. Selling to higher ed requires you to speak their language and understand their context deeply.

Right—it’s not the typical fast-paced sales model.

Not at all. Traditional sales doesn’t quite fit EdTech. The sales process here is relational, consultative, and rooted in trust.

Another EdTech Mentor guest once said, “You don’t sell to education—you sell through it.” You need to understand how it works and where you fit.

Exactly. Before becoming CCO, I was in charge of markets outside Latin America. I’m often asked about differences between regions. The truth? The problems are global—retention, quality, efficiency. But the triggers are local. In the U.S., for instance, retention challenges in Texas might stem from student migration across the Mexican border. So the issue is global, but the solution must be local. You need to understand those nuances to truly help.

Nico, uPlanner is a Chilean EdTech company and one of the most important in the region—but it also has global impact. I’ve always wanted to know: what unique circumstances had to come together for a Latin American EdTech to be so successful abroad? Was it the team, the country, the context?

It’s a tough question—because it touches on many layers. First, there's a real problem we solve. Our tech tackles issues that are deeply rooted in higher education. For example, most universities don’t use more than 60% of their infrastructure. And retention? On average, they lose half of their students before graduation. These are critical problems, and we bring real solutions.

Second, from a Chilean or broader Latin American perspective, the entrepreneurship ecosystem still leans heavily on funding from family and friends. There’s limited experience in serious capital raising. What’s been key for uPlanner is the resilience of our CEO, Juan Pablo. He pushed through, sought funding creatively, and kept growing the vision.

Third, it’s about proof of value. Our success has spread through real case studies—word of mouth across institutions. For example, our current work with the UAE Ministry of Higher Education happened because they saw a project we did in Mexico. And that project? It came from one in Peru. It’s all about relationships and a chain of proven results.

And the team? I’ve noticed that everyone at uPlanner is truly skilled in their area. That’s not easy to find.

Totally. Juan Pablo has always had a long-term vision—he talks like he's already living 10 years in the future. It’s inspiring, but also challenging. The rest of the team has to translate that vision into reality. We’ve been intentional about building a diverse, talented team, with very different profiles. I’m a perfect example—I have an atypical background, but I found my place here.

Since 27zero is a marketing agency, I have to ask—what has worked for you in marketing?

It’s a balance of two things. First, relationships and in-person presence. After the pandemic, we all shifted to remote, but higher ed is still a very face-to-face world. Being present matters. Success stories told by the client, not us, carry a lot of weight. And second, structure. Marketing can’t just be creative and spontaneous—it has to be methodical. We’ve been testing: What works better—a webinar? A case study? A one-on-one? It also varies by country. What works in Chile won’t necessarily work in Peru or the U.S. Understanding that local nuance is crucial.

You attend many EdTech events around the world—as a speaker and as a guest. How do you approach that? Personally and professionally?

Personally, it’s hard. Traveling so often takes a toll, especially being based in Chile where even the shortest trip is six hours. People think it’s glamorous, but it’s not always fun sleeping on a plane twice a month. You need to actually enjoy it—and luckily, I do.

Professionally, these events are key. Higher ed is a small world. Everyone knows everyone. Sales cycles can be 12 to 18 months, so it’s all about building long-term relationships. It’s not about a single event or webinar—it’s a series of consistent, meaningful touchpoints. That’s how you earn trust and eventually close deals. Relationships are at the core, and they’re built both professionally and personally. That’s why I touched on both.

You attend so many events and engage regularly with higher ed leaders around the world—and one of the reasons I wanted to bring you into this segment is because of your LinkedIn posts. They’re reflective and based on your first-hand experience. From your perspective, what are the top three forces shaping education today that we must pay attention to?

First—without a doubt—AI. It’s force number one, two, and three. Automation is impacting education from all sides, both positive and negative. On the positive side, there’s a lot of discussion about how AI can support learning. On the negative, there's a political risk: what happens if governments use AI as an excuse to cut funding? Imagine someone saying, “This rural school is too expensive—let’s just replace it with AI." That’s dangerous if the decisions are political, not technical.

And AI is impacting every industry.

Exactly. Second, learner pathways are becoming much more flexible. I mentioned earlier that I studied engineering, but I’m very passionate about the arts—music, drawing. Today, students can design their own routes. Maybe they start with a drawing class, then move into design, then into business. These custom paths are now possible and increasingly normal. What’s really changing education isn’t just the tech—it’s that students now demand different things from institutions.

Right. Learners have more choices than ever. Do you think universities will continue offering traditional, rigid pathways?

That’s a great question—and ties into my third point: local impact. Lately on LinkedIn, I’ve tried to share a different narrative. Most education stories—reports, articles—are negative: student attrition, poor alignment with labor markets, financial crises. But when you visit lesser-known institutions, you find incredibly meaningful work happening. Universities that aren’t ranked, that operate on tiny budgets, are still transforming lives—helping someone with no professional background get a job, support a family, and change their future. That’s massive impact.

Yes, and those powerful stories often get left out of the headlines, replaced by a general sense of disappointment.

Exactly. Take Harvard or MIT. They invest over $100,000 per student, but many of those students are already set up for success. Now look at colleges operating on $4,000–$5,000 per student, educating first-gen learners. The transformation there is real. A dean I worked with used to say: Are our students successful because of us—or in spite of us? That stuck with me. Many elite institutions educate students who would succeed no matter what. But the schools working with less? They’re creating real change.

That leads me to a final point. We recently launched a sister series called The EdTech Investor focused on those backing this space. Do you think there's a disconnect between impact-driven EdTech and the venture capital world?

I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s the only reason, but yes, there’s a clear mismatch. Venture capital in Latin America is still immature. And EdTech doesn’t fit the VC model well—sales cycles are long, returns are slow. A mining startup in Chile can show ROI in months. In EdTech, you need time, air, and patience.

A dean once told me something I’ll never forget: Working in education is the easiest and the hardest thing at the same time. Easy, because the impact of your decisions won’t be visible for 10 years. Hard, because in the meantime, you have no idea if what you're doing is right. In Chile, major education reforms passed in 2016 and 2019—but we’re only now, in 2025, starting to see their real impact, and unfortunately, much of it is negative.

So true. Education is a long game—and most VCs haven’t figured that out yet.

You mentioned local impact earlier, and now I want to ask a broader question—maybe a tough one. When we look at other regions, there's often a clear narrative: in Africa, it’s the demographic boom; in Asia, it’s rapid tech adoption; in Europe, it’s culture and legacy. What’s the narrative for Latin America in education today? Where can we find hope as a region—and does education play a central role in that?

Let’s divide the world into two: the Global North—places like the U.S., Canada, and Europe—with long-standing traditions and strong data infrastructure. Then there’s the Global South—Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia—where conditions are often more fragile. One of the biggest challenges is data. Globally, only 50% of countries report on tertiary education, and in the South, it's less than 20%. So even having a narrative is hard when we don’t know what's really happening.

Still, based on my visits to many higher ed systems, I’d say Latin America can be a reference point for other regions like Africa and Southeast Asia. Yes, we have huge gaps—especially in funding—but we’ve made serious progress. We have institutions doing exceptional work, both in and outside of rankings. There's a lot to learn from our region.

What are some of the things you see being done well? What stands out when you speak with rectors?

One big mindset shift has been a growing focus on quality. In countries like Colombia, for example, many rectors are clear on where they want to go—they’re thinking about outcomes, not just academic content, but whether students are leaving with real competencies and employability. And I see this not just in high-ranking institutions but also in smaller, unranked ones doing excellent work.

That’s a powerful shift. What else are you seeing?

There’s still a disconnect with the job market. And yes, we’ve started to recognize that gap, but solutions are still scarce or isolated. Is it the university’s fault for not aligning? Or is it industry’s fault for not engaging? The good news is we’re identifying the problem. But we’re far from solving it systemically.

Are you personally optimistic or pessimistic about the future of education in Latin America—for your own family, for your daughters?

Both. I’m optimistic because they’ll have more choices than we did. I have two daughters, both very creative, and they go to a school that lets them be themselves. It’s not a unique case—I see many schools giving kids space to explore. When they reach higher ed, they’ll have more freedom, less pressure to fit traditional molds.

But I’m also pessimistic—mainly when it comes to politics. In Latin America, decisions are too often political, not technical. There’s a risk that populist or ideological policies could make things worse. For example, with AI now so capable, I wouldn’t be surprised if a government decided to close rural schools and replace them with AI tutors to cut costs. That would just deepen inequality—elite institutions will continue offering rich, in-person education, while low-income populations get scaled-down digital versions. That’s worrying.

Absolutely. That kind of political logic can be dangerous. Let’s switch gears—what’s next for uPlanner?

AI is front and center. For ten years, we’ve focused on collecting and analyzing university data to improve operational efficiency. Now, with such rich datasets, we want to move beyond efficiency and support a full 360-degree view of the student.

The goal is proactive support. If a student is struggling in a specific area, the system should alert them and recommend tutoring, workshops, or other support options—before they fail. We want to help universities guide students toward graduation with the right interventions at the right time.

That’s the long-term vision. In the short term, we’re consolidating our existing tools into a single academic operations platform—what we call the "third system" in a university. The first is the student information system, the second is the learning management system, and now we aim to be the third: the academic operations system that brings everything together in one unified view.

A much more holistic approach—solving distinct problems, but in a connected and strategic way.

Exactly. One platform, one vision. That’s where we’re headed.