By Mustafa Furniturewala, Chief Technology Officer
We’re thrilled to welcome Microsoft as our first industry partner to join Coursera’s 19th Make-a-Thon, an annual event where our teams, regardless of technical experience, explore new ideas that could help revolutionize online learning. Since our partnership began in 2021, Microsoft has continually worked alongside us to deliver in-demand programs to learners across the globe, and their participation in this year’s Make-a-Thon comes at a key moment as we continue to embrace and explore the power of generative AI on the platform.
Our collaboration with Microsoft for this year’s event enables Coursera employees to leverage advanced tools like Azure AI Studio to quickly build AI solutions while training models using relevant data. Employees can also participate in-person from around the world via Microsoft Garages, spaces built for collaborative innovation.
“At Microsoft, we’re driving innovation to empower learners globally. Our collaboration with Coursera for the Make-a-Thon is a pivotal moment where tech and education merge, shaping the path to the future.” said Paige Johnson, Vice President, Education and Media Industry Marketing at Microsoft. “Together, we ignite a transformational journey, unlocking AI’s potential and creating unparalleled opportunities. This Make-a-Thon is more than an event; it’s our shared commitment to drive meaningful change.”
Our theme for this year’s Make-a-Thon is “Path to the Future” – and aims to ignite our collective creativity and innovation, harnessing the power of AI to make a substantial impact on our business, our products, and our everyday lives. Features such as AI Grading and machine translated subtitles have come from previous Make-a-Thon projects, demonstrating how an idea can truly contribute to solving a need.
Today, Microsoft’s courses, Specializations, and Professional Certificates on Coursera have reached more than 500,000 learners around the world. We’re proud to deepen our partnership with Microsoft through shared innovation opportunities for our employees. We look forward to seeing the incredible outcomes from this year’s event.