Product strategy & growth leader

Building learning businesses that move from signal to scale.

I build AI learning products, EdTech platforms, and growth engines — from market insight and program strategy to launches, lifecycle systems, and commercial scale.

Emeritus · Great Learning · Unacademy

14M+Learners scaled
Prajwal Rao
$8MAI portfolio run-rate

Selected builds & operating strengths

Evidence of high-ownership work across product, growth, portfolio strategy, and commercial execution.

01$2M → $8M

AI learning products

12 programs built and scaled across an AI portfolio

0214M+

Great Learning Academy

A learner platform built from zero into a growth engine

035

Unacademy categories

Category groups across GATE, ESE, CA, Law, and test prep

040 → 1

Operating strength

Leadership-facing, data-led, cross-functional execution

How I can help

From an important opportunity to a system that can scale.

For founders and learning businesses that need an experienced operator to bring clarity, momentum, and commercial rigour to the work that matters next.

Portfolio & product strategy

Find the right learning-product bet.

Market signals, product propositions, program packaging, and clear portfolio choices for new or evolving learning businesses.

GTM & growth systems

Turn launch energy into durable growth.

Positioning, acquisition, lifecycle, creator and partner channels, analytics, and commercial iteration.

Fractional leadership

Bring senior operating ownership to the table.

Advisory, fractional product or growth leadership, and senior roles where cross-functional execution needs to move faster.

Have a specific AI, EdTech, portfolio, or growth mandate in mind?

Discuss a mandate

The operator lens

Strategy only matters when it becomes a product, a system, and a measurable outcome.

I work at the intersection of market discovery, positioning, program design, go-to-market, lifecycle growth, monetisation, and cross-functional delivery.

Selected work

Built across the full learning-business stack.

Three chapters. Each one begins with an opportunity and ends with an operating system that can scale.

01 — Emeritus

From experimental programs to a scaled AI portfolio.

Built and scaled an AI learning-products portfolio across Generative AI, ML, Agentic AI, and RAG — growing run-rate from approximately $2M to $8M in about one year.

  • Portfolio strategy, positioning, program packaging, GTM, and growth iteration
  • 12 programs spanning zero-to-one launches, advanced expansion, and global rollout
  • Cross-functional execution across product, content, engineering, academic operations, and sales
Explore AI learning portfolio
AI learning
programs
GenAIAgentic AIRAGML

Portfolio execution

Four flagship program stories

View all programs
14M+learners
ContentDistributionLifecycleAnalytics

02 — Great Learning

Building a learning platform into a growth engine.

Built Great Learning Academy from zero-to-one into a platform serving 14M+ learners, supported by an operating system for product, content, growth, lifecycle, and analytics.

  • Supported up to ₹60 crore in annual influenced revenue
  • Built a cumulative 250+ creator, affiliate, and community distribution-partner network
  • Contributed approximately ₹15 crore / $2.5M in attributable paid-program revenue across GLCA and Study Abroad in FY 2024–25
Explore Great Learning Academy

03 — Unacademy

Building categories through hyper-growth.

Worked across Unacademy’s journey from Series B through Series F — building engineering education categories, launching subscription businesses, and partnering closely with the CEO, co-founders, and functional leadership on growth and monetisation.

  • Built Engineering Curriculum, GATE, and ESE during the growth phase
  • Launched GATE, CA Exams, and Law Exams subscription businesses
  • Owned IELTS/TOEFL and GRE/GMAT portfolios, connecting category strategy, educator supply, learner needs, and business outcomes
Explore Unacademy work
UNACADEMYCategory portfolio
GATEESECALawIELTSGRE / GMAT
5category groups led across growth and monetisation

How I work

01

Find the signal

Understand the customer, market, competition, and commercial opportunity.

02

Shape the proposition

Turn insight into a clear category, program, product, or growth strategy.

03

Build the engine

Create the product, channel, operating rhythm, and feedback loop needed to make it work.

04

Scale responsibly

Use data, learner feedback, and commercial outcomes to improve what matters.

Experience & foundations

An operator's path through growth, product, and scale.

EM
Emeritus

AI portfolio strategy, growth, and GTM

GL
Great Learning

Academy, acquisition, and new initiatives

UA
Unacademy

Categories, P&L, and growth leadership

2025—26

Emeritus

Associate Director, Product · AI portfolio strategy, growth, and go-to-market

2020—25

Great Learning

Strategy & Growth · Academy, creator-led acquisition, paid-program growth, and new initiatives

2017—20

Unacademy

Business, category, growth, operations, and academics leadership; worked with CEO, co-founders, and senior leadership

Earlier chapters: SVR Builders / family firm, managing partner and project execution (2014—17) · Flipkart, Consultant (2012—13).

2025 - 26EmeritusAI learning products, portfolio growth, and GTMView details

Associate Director, Product for an AI learning-program portfolio. Led portfolio strategy, positioning, program packaging, go-to-market, and cross-functional growth execution across AI, GenAI, ML, Agentic AI, and RAG programs.

Explore the Emeritus case study
2020 - 25Great LearningAcademy, acquisition, lifecycle, and new initiativesView details

Built Great Learning Academy from a zero-to-one initiative into a learner-growth engine, while working across product, content, creator distribution, lifecycle programs, analytics, paid-program pathways, and new initiatives.

Explore the Great Learning case study
2017 - 20UnacademyCategory, P&L, operations, and academics leadershipView details

Built and launched engineering and professional-learning categories across the company’s hyper-growth phase. Worked with the CEO, co-founders, and senior leadership on category strategy, educator supply, product operations, learner experience, and monetisation.

Explore the Unacademy case study
2014 - 17SVR BuildersManaging partner, family firm, and project executionView details

Managed partner responsibilities and project execution for the family firm, building an early foundation in ownership, client coordination, and delivery.

2012 - 13FlipkartCustomer operations, consulting, and assisted buyingView details

Consultant supporting customer operations, escalations, dispute resolution, and assisted buying.

Education & continuous learning

AI

Texas McCombs School of Business

Post Graduate Program, Artificial Intelligence for Leaders

Grade: 4.22 · Capstone: Online AI Matchmaking Platform

Applied AI concepts to real-world business problems and AI-driven project execution.

NU

NUS Business School

Future Leaders Programme, Organizational Leadership

Capstone: Leadership & Team Simulation - Everest

Leadership, data-driven decision-making, stakeholder influence, and team motivation.

JE

Jain (Deemed-to-be University)

Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.), Civil Engineering

Grade: 8.4

Co-founded the Civil Engineering Association and led student, industry, and sponsorship initiatives.

Beyond the work

More about how I operate.

Explore my leadership foundation, public learning work, and selected on-camera and community projects.

Explore more about me

Connect

Let's build something that matters.

Open to advisory and consulting engagements, fractional product or growth leadership roles, and senior full-time opportunities where I can own a meaningful AI, EdTech, portfolio, or growth mandate.

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