BETT 2026 Exhibition and Conference in London

I am 50+. I graduated from school more than 30 years ago.

Last week, for the first time as part of the Peero team, I took part in the BETT 2026 Exhibition and Conference in London—to be exposed, energized, and challenged by hundreds of teachers, headmasters, and school owners.

S. Kolomenskis @Peero

Normally, exhibitions drain your energy. This one was different—totally different.

You meet teachers who give you energy. They challenge you and excite you at the same time. Suddenly, you feel at least 30 years younger. You’re back in the classroom, remembering your own beloved teachers.

Although this was a conference dedicated to Education Technology—and I expected a lot of buzz around AI—to my surprise, while there was decent interest in vendors’ stories, teachers were far less interested in AI itself. What mattered more to them were human factors: engagement, behaviour, empathy.

I must admit—I felt a bit lost whenever the conversation drifted too deeply into AI.

Energized, yet concerned after two days at BETT, I briefly stepped away to meet three top-level representatives from one of the hyperscalers. I thought: This is my Eureka moment. Thank God—I will finally be enlightened with answers, tactics, and strategies on how to deploy AI in a meaningful and helpful way.

What I heard instead left me wondering—or perhaps even destroyed a few illusions.

The representatives claimed that the lack of AI deployment in schools is mainly due to low interest from school leadership—that headmasters are simply not on top of it.

This instantly reminded me of my early years at IBM, when Lou Gerstner had to turn the company around—teaching elephants to dance. Back then, his message was clear: this was not the time for visions, but for strong strategies.

Peero Team at BETT

A strong feeling sparked in me: enough of the AI fuzz and future-of-IT hype in schools. Some countries are even reversing course, removing IT from classrooms altogether.

It is almost impossible to judge whether this is right or wrong. What is clear is that we are failing to properly connect technology with its users. Either we expect users to pay 100% attention, or we accept that they use less than 10% of the technology’s potential—because of a lack of need, skill, or belief.

Just like IBM back then, one of today’s missing strategies for hyperscalers is to get closer to their customers: to listen, understand their needs, pains, and motivations.

In a world driven by shareholder value—more money, faster, who cares about the rest—it has become very difficult to invest in non-sales, non–short-term revenue activities that help customers become confident, capable, and successful users.

We need to think in decades, not quarters.

This experience further confirmed that Peero’s 2026 mission—to stay close to educators and educational institutions—is not only correct, but timely.

Dear Educators,
we will do our very best to listen, learn and share what we have, help you research the right ways—or whether at all—to adopt technology, AI in particular, and to be your advocates in how to excite, grow, and win.

Let us not be surprised one day by hearing:
“Too little, too late.”

Sandis Kolomenskis,

Founder | Organization Culture Strategic Advisor