# Albert School — Four Years In, And Still at the Beginning **Authors:** Grégoire Genest **Categories:** Opinion **Last Updated:** 2026-01-12T19:54:03.601Z **Reading Time:** 6 min read --- ## Summary A letter from Director Grégoire Genest reflecting on Albert School's first four years, the journey from conviction to institution, and the vision for building one of the world's leading higher education institutions for Business, Data & AI. --- Today marks four years of Albert School. To our students, teachers, team members, parents, partners, investors, and friends of Albert School: this letter is for you. ## The Beginning Four years ago, Albert School was still just a conviction. That the world was changing faster than our education system. That "business as usual" and "engineering as usual" would not be enough in a world shaped by data and AI. That we needed a new kind of school: rigorous like an engineering programme, connected to the real economy like a business school, and obsessed with student experience. We didn't want to "add a bit of data" to business. We wanted to build a higher education institution from day one at the intersection of Business, Data & AI. ## Four Years of Growth In four years, a lot has happened. - We've welcomed brilliant, ambitious, demanding students who push us every day. - We've built a community of teachers who combine academic excellence with real-world experience. - We've convinced companies to bet on young talent trained differently - closer to their tools, their pace, their expectations. - We've begun our international expansion, and we are still at the very beginning of that journey. - And we've lived our first big milestones: first intakes, first graduates, first accreditations, first campuses abroad, first research and innovation projects. But if I'm honest, what makes me proud is not a metric or a ranking. It's watching our students grow - in confidence, in ambition, in their sense of responsibility. When a student tells us: "I wouldn't be where I am without Albert School." that, for me, is the definition of impact. ## Our Ambition From day one, we've had a clear ambition: > To build one of the leading higher education institutions in the world for Business, Data & AI. Not the biggest. Not the trendiest. One of the best in substance, in pedagogy, in outcomes, and in integrity. That means a few non-negotiables: - **Excellence and rigor**: demanding programmes, high expectations, real work. - **Student-centric by design**: small groups, coaching, constant feedback, real attention to each person. - **Deep connection with the economy**: real projects, apprenticeships, corporate partnerships that are more than logos on a slide. - **Data & AI as a language, not a "module"**: our students must be able to understand, build, question and use these technologies - not just talk about them. - **Ethics and responsibility**: being strong in data and AI only matters if it makes you more useful to society, not more dangerous. If we want to be a top institution, we have to accept something uncomfortable: we are still a work in progress. And we always will be. ## The AI Revolution in Education Over the past two years, something fundamental has changed in higher education - quietly, but irreversibly. The rise of advanced AI models has rewritten the laws of learning. For students who know how to use these tools, the pace of progress is no longer limited by the traditional structure of a class. They can explore faster, go deeper, and challenge their teachers in ways that were unthinkable even five years ago. This shift doesn't mean that the classical model - lectures, notes, exams - disappears overnight. It remains an important foundation, and it will continue to structure part of our programmes. But it also means that the schools that aspire to excellence must progressively evolve toward a more demanding model: one built on autonomy, coaching, and ambitious projects. In many ways, we are moving toward the essence of the great educational models of the past - the Oxbridge tutorial system, the apprenticeship logic of doctorates - but with a crucial difference: AI lowers the barrier to advanced learning. It gives structure, feedback, and acceleration to students who, until now, needed years of maturity to operate at that level. This is the direction we are building toward at Albert School. A school where teachers become mentors and sparring partners. Where students grow in autonomy, supported - not replaced - by intelligent tools. Where projects, not notes, become the real measure of progress. Where the ability to learn, create, and lead matters as much as the knowledge itself. We are not fully there yet. But we know exactly where we are going. ## Lessons Learned Over the last 12 months, we've also learned a lot. That integrating AI deeply into learning is hard - but essential. That being international is not just opening campuses; it's aligning programmes, exams, culture and quality across countries. That building a great school is not a sprint, it's a long, disciplined, sometimes brutal marathon. We've made mistakes. We've iterated. We've raised the bar internally. And we will continue to do so. Being "new" is not an excuse for being approximate. We want to be judged by the same standards as the best schools in the world - and then exceed them. ## Thank You If you are reading this, you are part of this story: **To our students**: thank you for your trust - and for your high standards. Keep challenging us. A great school is built with its students, not just for them. **To our teachers**: thank you for believing that another way of teaching is possible, and for the time you invest far beyond the classroom. **To our team**: you have turned a PowerPoint and a conviction into a living institution. What we've built in four years is the result of your work, your resilience, and your ambition. **To parents**: you took a risk with a young school. We don't take that lightly. Our responsibility towards your children is at the centre of everything we do. **To our partners and investors**: thank you for backing a long-term project. We're not building a "school brand"; we're building an institution meant to last. **To all friends of Albert School**: alumni, advisors, mentors, supporters - your advice, your criticism, and your encouragement shape us more than you think. ## Looking Forward Albert School is four years old. In the life of a higher education institution, that is infancy. But infancy is when you decide your DNA. Ours is clear: *Inspired minds can reinvent the world - with data, with rigor, and with integrity.* Thank you to everyone who has been part of the journey so far. To those who will join us in the next four years: welcome. There is a lot left to build. Albert School is still at the beginning of its story. Our ambition remains simple and demanding: to become one of the reference schools in the world for those who want to lead, build, and understand the data & AI economy. And we're just getting started. **Grégoire Genest** Director, Albert School ## Key Takeaways 1. Albert School was founded four years ago with a conviction that education needed to evolve at the intersection of Business, Data & AI. 2. The school has achieved significant milestones including first graduates, accreditations, international expansion, and corporate partnerships. 3. The core ambition is to build one of the world's leading institutions for Business, Data & AI—focused on excellence, not size or trends. 4. AI is fundamentally changing education, enabling students to learn faster and deeper, requiring schools to evolve toward autonomy, coaching, and project-based learning. 5. Building a great institution is a marathon, not a sprint—requiring continuous iteration, raising standards, and learning from mistakes. --- *Article from [Albert's Deep Dive](https://deepdive.albertschool.com) - Albert School's Journal*