Hadelin de Ponteves emerges as a leading AI provider in India

Paris-based businessman Hadelin de Ponteves, 31, who has offices all across the world, including India, is proud that his online education business didn’t suffer due to the Covid-19 impact across the world. A major percentage of his business comes from India and he is glad that the year 2020 only encouraged people of the country to take online courses and boost their repertoire of knowledge.

Over the last few years, Hadelin has trained more than 10 lakh people all over the world, and over 3 lakh takers belong to India making him one of the leading Artificial Intelligence education provider in India. Of late, the maximum number of subscription has come for his AI course, named ‘Machine Learning A-Z’.

Explaining how he thought an Artificial Intelligence (AI) course would be apt for young minds and is the way forward, Hadelin says, “Business is a complex ecosystem built on synergies of experiences, knowledge, intuition, passion and emotional intelligence. The ability to identify needs, jump through volatilitilities, transform challenges into opportunities are vital on the road to success. The product you offer must respond to a certain demand, and the higher the demand is, the more you will sell your product. In 2016, the demand for data science skills was just about to explode, followed by a strong need for AI education. However, at that time, the online education landscape was not set and the competition was not intense. For instance, there were only two or three trusted providers in online courses offered on Udemy. My robust professional intuition entwined with my passion to teach, made me take the golden opportunity to launch a new Artificial Intelligence course, named ‘Machine Learning A-Z’.”

It’s great how what started with just a few takers is recognized as one of the top AI courses in the world today, with over 1000 copies sold everyday. Talking about the way he structured the course and ensured it interested young minds, Hadelin says, “I started with creating fully unique and innovative content, and supported it with a holistic marketing strategy. These actions contributed rapidly to my competitive position among rivals and boosted the global presence. Over 1,000 students had subscribed in less than 48 hours. One month later, the number reached 10,000+, and one year later, we hit the 100,000+ benchmark. Eventually, satisfied students and professionals became loyal subscribers and global advocates of my capabilities.”

He adds, “Today my courses have created value and made a difference in the academic and professional lives of more than 1,000,000+ students and professionals from 210 countries around the globe.”

According to Udemy statistics, the highest number of people who enrolled for the online course are from India (28%). Hadelin says that the number of takers is high in India due to several reasons. “These students and professionals have recently observed enhanced acceptance of online education learning. They are self-motivated and ambitious users looking for high-quality online content at an affordable price to up-skill or re-skill themselves as a necessity for their career progression. The opportunity of real-time learning, intuitive content, provision of all necessary tools, real-world practical cases and ongoing full Q&A support added immediate value to their professional profiles and boosted their careers. As per the feedback from Indian students and professionals, the content of the courses provides everything needed for a shift in their careers to the AI fields with no prior experience. Moreover, the overall interactive digital learning approach contributed to their desire to develop and challenge themselves further and create new AI solutions right after they completed the courses,” he says.

Hadelin is proud that the Indian consumers of his AI course have benefitted immensely from it. “Some of them say that these courses opened their eyes to a new world of possibilities,” he says, adding, “They immediately applied the acquired knowledge in real-life practices and brought value to their enterprises or even launched their own startups. Every day my team receives words of gratitude and different inspiring life stories from my students on social media channels about their progressions, life-changing events, such as creating impactful solutions to solve important problems in India or cracking the interviews at global tech giants.”

Apart from offering the online course, Hadelin has also written a book on artificial intelligence. “It’s called AI Crash Course that serves as supplementary hands-on knowledge to help my students to boost their capabilities further. This book was well accepted by Indian students and professionals, who now recommend it as a must-read book for those wanting to break into AI space, as well as AI and Data Science practitioners aiming to be on top of their game,” he says.

A lover of India, its culture and food, Hadelin is glad that he is able to make a difference at such a large level with his business. “I am in India every alternate month since that’s where my major business comes from there. All the fundamental milestones in the lives of my students are my strongest drivers for creating and sharing even more. The desire to equip my students with relevant up-to-date knowledge to meet an ambiguous future became the most important mission for me to complete,” Hadelin signs off.

Disclaimer: The views, suggestions and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Forbes India journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.