"Beyond the Brief" - Armin Molavi on setting potential in motion

Chris Perkins sits down with Armin Molavi, president of the Global Customer Organization at Instructure, to talk about the company’s evolving brand, the realities of education technology, and why community matters as much as product. Armin also shares how AI, accessibility, and portable credentials are shaping the next phase of learning. Key topics Armin’s career path What Instructure does A clearer mission for Instructure Technology that gives educators more time to teach Learning is a team sport Using AI thoughtfully in education Community and peer-to-peer learning Making education and skills more portable Marketing beyond pipeline Different audiences need different strategies Accessibility as a practical AI use case Running, reflection, and connection Timestamps 00:00 - Introducing Armin Molavi and his role at Instructure 00:36 - From UMass to agency life, Hilton, and fractional CMO work 01:54 - Joining Instructure and taking on a broader leadership role 04:41 - CanvasCon becomes InstructureCon as the product strategy expands 05:54 - Why Instructure needed a clearer brand strategy and mission 06:48 - How “setting potential in motion” became the new tagline 08:09 - Reducing teacher workload instead of adding to it 10:47 - Why learning is a team sport 12:10 - Supporting working parents and adult learners 13:05 - A practical case for AI in education 14:29 - Where AI can help—and why classroom use requires care 16:55 - Why Armin compares Instructure to Sonos 18:30 - Canvas Career and the future of reskilling and credentialing 21:22 - The educator community and peer-to-peer support 23:33 - Making education more portable and meaningful 25:24 - Why reskilling matters as skills change 27:12 - Why B2B and B2C marketing are more alike than they seem 28:11 - Moving marketing from pipeline creation to brand preference 30:19 - Connecting brand love to revenue 32:25 - Why switching learning management systems is a major decision 34:56 - Communicating value to a complex buying committee 36:55 - Understanding stakeholders through empathy 39:47 - A late-night AI experiment to learn about third-grade teachers’ work 46:03 - Canvas’s AI course accessibility remediation tool 48:11 - Why marathon running matters to Armin 50:43 - Closing reflections on long relationships and shared history Notable quotes “Setting potential in motion.” “Learning is a team sport.” “We’re not here to judge the education part. We’re here to enable it.”