Masai - The Transition for Sustainability & Innovation

Education must lead to employment

This is the ideal that the founders of Masai- Prateek Shukla, Nrupul Dev and Yogesh Bhat have strived to achieve. 

Like most innovative solutions born from the most dire problems, Masai paved the way for the untapped and underutilized students of the country. These students were stranded with employment rates at an all time low and a huge gap in their skills as compared to the jobs they searched for. That's where our outcome based learning model stepped in, providing a breath of fresh air. 

And, this latest shift in our model is intended only to exemplify that. 

Bridging the Gap

The average university/college spills students out into the world with little to no knowledge of how to step into the roles they have spent their 3-4 years scrambling for, only for them to join the line of millions of others on the same boat as them. A degree in hand, a dream in the mind and a cliff between where they are and where they wish they were. 

The jump to the other end is too risky and the guilt of staying in the same place is unacceptable. 

Therefore Masai serves as the bridge in between. Industry aligned learning that actually gives a real shot at a career, now doesn’t that open up a world of possibilities. 

While Indian students are brimming with talent, there is no outlet where those with the talent, intelligence and work ethic can cultivate their abilities. The conditions vary. Rural backgrounds, financial conditions, inaccessible areas or simply a sub-par learning experience. Whatever it may be, our goal is to tap into these underutilized individuals and impart to them the training required to bring these forth. 

So far, we are proud to have trained 100 batches of skilled professionals, along with a student base that crosses over 15000 with over 94 % placement rate and alumni salaries averaging 6.1 LPA. It is the outcome of these efforts that have established a form of trust between Masai and our students.

Enter Pay After Placement

Isn’t it unfair when you sit for an interview and are bombarded with questions of technicality that you never knew were required for the course you spent 3 years on? Or you actually decide to study it, and you come upon prices so grand that your heart sinks at even the prospect of applying?

The Pay After Placement aspired to be the solution to that problem. A saving grace that eliminated the upfront payment barrier and relied on the student’s dedication to learn, enabling them to deliver more time to the rigorous training we had designed for them, consisting of the flagship curriculum that followed a full-time, 11AM-to-11PM schedule for six days a week.  It was a gruelling effort - 1,200 hours of coding, 100 hours of soft skill training, and 100 hours of mathematics.

The military drill style type of learning imbued the students with confidence for such efforts and time would only culminate in them being job ready. 

While this served well, evolution to efficiency is inevitable - and therefore the shift in our model.  

Transition to Prepaid

Circumstances are dynamic and tomorrow holds no promise of consistency. Therefore, adaptability in such a situation is the only solution. And that is what Masai has done with its new model for its students. 

The 2020 covid timeline caused situations out of control everywhere, storming the market with uncertainty amidst tragedy, and businesses had to strategize and adapt.

Progress requires some tough decisions. Between FY22 and FY25, the founders began restructuring the company’s internal systems and operating approach, intended towards sustenance and building for an AI-driven future across domains.

Come in, the Prepaid model. Variety, global expertise and real world applicability. Students now have multiple categories they can choose from. Whether they're working professionals seeking to upskill, college students looking to gather industry insight or primarily, learners from lower-income backgrounds who were unable to afford the high cost of professional education. 

Learning isn't hindered by formalities or uncertainty anymore, and students can plan accordingly. 

When we transitioned to prepaid, we wanted the students to experience the quality of education accessible only in premier institutes - the IITs, IIMs, and BITSs of India. And at a reasonable price that would train them in not only the skills they want, but also those they need. 

This approach has led to the co-creation of six to nine month programmes focused on long term skill development and employability with the said premeier institutes of the country.

These courses are taught by experienced professors who value a driven curriculum with real life applicability of projects, preparing the students beforehand for situations they are likely to encounter at work. 

Also, the integration of AI in Masai and the application of the latest tools in the learning experience is the kind of progression that we bring to the students. For an outcome-based platform like Masai, it is the branching out into different spaces of expertise and career paths that make all the difference. 

We've also added courses in management, marketing, and entrepreneurship to offer a varied range of careers students can choose from - especially with the tie-ins with BITs, IIMs and IITs, 

Planning ahead with meticulousness was the simple plan followed here. The core remained static. The outcome-driven curriculum would function the way it was meant to. 

With PAP we had laid a foundation. An ambitious start that allowed access to one and all. But with this next step of Prepaid, the scale of growth and clarity sees no bounds. For our students, this highlights a horizon full of possibilities.                                                                                                                              

The Road Ahead

However, it doesn’t end there. 

• MisogiAI: A no cost education path for learners initiated to meet the demand for AI-readiness among working software developers.
• Placed: An AI-powered talent platform designed to connect job seekers with suitable job roles that better fit their skillset. This initiative also aims in expanding access to talents from smaller towns and inaccessible areas, giving them an equal opportunity of employability. Given Masai’s years of experience in the ‘pay after placement’ model and nurturing relationships with recruiters from top companies - this was the natural next step.
• EmpowerHer: A 100 % tech scholarship programme for women. In collaboration with KSIF and AVPN, it is a 5 month Web-Development Bootcamp plus 2 month internship support at zero cost and no upfront payment. A statement of economic empowerment for the women of India. 

The Conclusion 

Prepaid isn't only a transition, it’s an evolution towards a more actionable future. In the realm of business, education and technology - three of the most prominent sectors within our Indian industrial diaspora, Masai aims to have its students as leaders in each sector, ensuring that “business is not running as usual” but transitioning towards progress and innovation.