CodeSignal Inc., based in San Francisco, is the skills assessment platform trusted by companies such as Netflix, Meta, and Capital One. On Wednesday, they launched Cosmo, a mobile learning application utilizing AI-powered micro-courses to develop career-ready skills in short bursts.
With CodeSignal having established its reputation in assessing technical talent for major firms, Cosmo marks a strategic pivot toward workplace education. The app features over 300 bite-sized courses in areas like generative AI, coding, marketing, finance, and leadership, offered through an interactive chat interface with an AI tutor.
“Cosmo is like having an AI tutor in your pocket capable of teaching everything from GenAI and coding to marketing, finance, and leadership through practical application,” said Tigran Sloyan, CodeSignal’s co-founder and CEO, in an exclusive interview. “Instead of just watching a video or reading, you immediately dive into practice.”
The launch emerges amidst organizations dealing with significant skills gaps created by rapid AI adoption. According to the 2024 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, 76% of developers either use or plan to use AI tools, though many workers still lack the practical knowledge to effectively leverage these tools. Traditional corporate training programs, costing $20,000 to $40,000 per person at the executive level, have been insufficient for scaling AI literacy throughout organizations.
How CodeSignal pivoted from tech hiring platform to mobile education powerhouse
CodeSignal’s foray into mobile learning culminates a decade-long vision that unexpectedly passed through the tech hiring space. Sloyan, who founded the company in 2015 with educational goals, realized that without skills-based hiring practices, alternative education wouldn’t gain traction.
“The original dream and mission were to help more humans reach their potential, naturally leading to better education,” Sloyan shared. “Early on, though, it became clear that without companies valuing skills from alternative education over traditional degrees, the model would not work.”
For six years, the company built a leading technical assessment platform, processing millions of coding evaluations for over 3,000 companies. This focus sharpened CodeSignal’s understanding of the skills employers truly value, now key to developing Cosmo’s curriculum.
“We know exactly what companies look for,” Sloyan said. “Without this knowledge, preparing individuals for career advancement or job acquisition feels like guesswork.”
Why AI tutors could finally solve the personalized learning problem
Cosmo distinguishes itself with “practice-first learning,” where users engage in realistic workplace scenarios rather than passive video content. Its AI tutor, also named Cosmo, adapts to individual knowledge levels and learning speeds through conversational exchanges.
The platform addresses the “Bloom’s two sigma problem,” a 1984 study indicating one-on-one tutoring produces significantly better learning outcomes than traditional classroom instruction. This model, however, remained unscalable until now.
“One-on-one personalization and tutoring improve learning outcomes but weren’t feasible at scale,” Sloyan said. “With generative AI’s advancements in 2023, it became apparent this technology could help achieve optimal learning conditions if it continues to improve.”
The app enables a blend of predetermined course content with real-time personalization. Lessons adhere to a structured curriculum but allow for learner interruptions with questions, to which the AI generates immediate explanations before resuming the main topic.
Generative AI skills training takes center stage as workforce scrambles to adapt
Nearly one-third of Cosmo’s launch content emphasizes generative AI applications, a reflection of the most critical skills gap identified in today’s market. The app provides role-specific AI training paths for sales, marketing, engineering, healthcare, and other fields.
“Generative AI skills represent the most significant career gap now for