You Asked, We Answered: Secrets to Landing the Largest AI Education Deployment
Yesterday, we hosted a special event at Nectir—an "Ask Us Anything" webinar where Nectir team members pulled back the curtain on how we became the AI partner for the California Community College system's 2.1 million students. We answered questions from our followers, newsletter subscribers, and peers, to share the real story behind the lessons that transformed how we approach educational AI at scale.
Here’s a sneak peek at what we shared.
Want to watch the full webinar? You can catch the recording here.
What key metrics did Nectir test?
We came to the table with peer-reviewed, third-party research showing real student outcomes.
Los Angeles Pacific University conducted a matched-pair study, completely independent of us, that found students using Nectir AI for just one term saw a 20% increase in GPA, a 13% increase in final scores, and a 36% increase in intrinsic motivation to learn. This wasn't marketing material; it was rigorous evidence that convinced California we could replicate these results statewide.
The California Community Colleges then partnered with us to conduct their own validation, and preliminary findings already show positive impact on GPA, retention, and course completion.
What objections were raised that almost killed the deal?
Nothing almost killed the deal, but the scalability question kept us up at night.
As the largest higher education system in the country, their biggest concern was simple:
"Can you really scale this? How are you going to work with someone of our size?"
We had to prove we could handle not just the technical platform requirements, but also onboarding hundreds of instructors, teaching AI literacy at different skill levels, building trust with faculty, and helping them communicate effectively with students about AI.
The answer was a close partnership: we worked hand in hand with the chancellor's office, maintained constant communication, and addressed concerns immediately, turning potential dealbreakers into collaborative problem-solving.
What suprised you most during implementation?
The creativity and enthusiasm from instructors caught us off guard in the best way. We expected some resistance to AI, but instead found faculty creating the most innovative and effective AI assistants we'd never even imagined—use cases we're now sharing across the entire instructor community.
The other major surprise was how well faculty-led adoption worked at a massive scale. We made Nectir available to instructors across all 116 campuses who raised their hands to participate, and the demand from faculty across disciplines was phenomenal.
This grassroots approach created a community of practice where instructors shared what worked, learned together, and built momentum organically, which was far more effective than top-down mandates.
Why was Nectir chosen over larger, more established vendors?
The California Community Colleges needed a vendor purpose-built for higher education that could properly support them through implementation.
Early-stage AI adoption requires heavy implementation support, intense onboarding infrastructure, and the ability for vendors to iterate quickly. Nectir was best positioned to take product feedback and implement changes effectively. In that way, being a startup actually worked in our favor: we're nimble, we focus deeply on higher education (not just one segment of a larger business), and we can iterate quickly based on real instructor feedback.
Additionally, we were the only vendor that provided peer-reviewed studies demonstrating a significant impact on student outcomes.
How did you prove Nectir AI wouldn't undermine faculty?
We've never believed AI would replace instructors. Building a product that supports and enhances human-led instruction has been our North Star from day one.
Nectir allows instructors to deliver active learning and experiential learning at scales they could never achieve before, giving students 24/7 access to a resource that's custom-designed by the instructor and deeply grounded in their curriculum.
It leverages the instructor’s course materials and guidance and expands availability without replacing the essential human elements of teaching.
Once instructors start using Nectir, they have "aha moments" when they realize Nectir AI facilitates critical thinking through iterative interactions with AI Assistants they have built themselves.
They also discover they can create assistants for their own work: building curriculum, preliminary grading, and generating practice exam questions, which frees up time to focus on high-impact teaching.
Is Nectir planning to expand into K-12?
We've already begun expanding into K-12, and the results are exceeding our expectations.
We're seeing students sending 500 to 1,000 messages per day at our K-12 campus partners, with insane usage across not just course-specific assistants but campus-wide resources for everything from coursework to college advising.
We're excited to continue expanding beyond higher education into K-12 while maintaining our core focus on serving students who need the most personalized support.
Bring Scalable AI To Your Institution
The California Community Colleges deployment proves that educational AI works at unprecedented scale: 2.1 million students, 116 colleges, and peer-reviewed outcomes including 20% increases in GPA and 36% increases in student motivation.
If you're ready to explore how Nectir can transform learning outcomes at your institution with the same proven approach that earned California's trust, our team is here to show you exactly how we do it.
Book a demo with our sales team to discover how Nectir's AI assistants can drive measurable student success, lighten faculty workload, and create the kind of results that set precedents for safe AI adoption nationwide.
Want more insights on AI in education? Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for our next webinar on AI in vocational education, February 24 at 10:00 AM PST. For a sneak peek of our webinar, watch our featured instructor discuss his machine tool technology course on Fox News.