# Kian Katanforoosh

> Kian Katanforoosh is the CEO and co-founder of Workera, an AI-powered skills intelligence platform that has raised $55.5M and serves enterprise clients including Samsung, Siemens Energy, and the U.S. Air Force. Born in France to Iranian immigrant parents, he came to Silicon Valley via Stanford, where he co-created the Deep Learning Specialization on Coursera with Andrew Ng, reaching over 4 million learners. He holds Stanford's Walter J. Gores Award (the university's highest teaching honor) and was named a Forbes 30 Under 30 and World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer in 2025. His mission: make elite mentorship - the kind he received from Andrew Ng - accessible to anyone through AI-powered skill assessment and personalized learning.

- **Role:** CEO & Co-Founder at Workera; Adjunct Lecturer at Stanford University
- **Organizations:** Workera, DeepLearning.AI, Stanford University
- **From:** France
- **Nationality:** French-Iranian
- **Education:** Master's degree, Computer Science, Stanford University, Master's degree, Engineering, Ecole CentraleSupelec (formerly Ecole Centrale Paris)
- **Known for:** Walter J. Gores Award - Stanford University's highest teaching award, Stanford Centennial Award for Excellence in Teaching, Forbes 30 Under 30, Education 2020

## Career timeline

- **2014-2016** — Co-founded Daskit, a French ed-tech startup developing in-classroom solutions for universities
- **2017** — Co-founded DeepLearning.AI with Andrew Ng; began co-teaching CS230 Deep Learning at Stanford
- **2017-2019** — Co-created the Deep Learning Specialization on Coursera, reaching 4M+ learners
- **2020** — Co-founded and launched Workera with Andrew Ng as an AI-powered skills assessment platform
- **2020** — Named to Forbes 30 Under 30, Education list
- **2021** — Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 All Stars, Education list
- **2023** — Workera closed $23.5M Series B financing led by Jump Capital; total funding reached $55.5M
- **2024** — Workera named in Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies list; launched Sage AI mentorship agent
- **2025** — Named WEF Technology Pioneer; Workera ranked #397 on Inc. 5000 list

## Achievements

- Walter J. Gores Award - Stanford University's highest teaching award
- Stanford Centennial Award for Excellence in Teaching
- Forbes 30 Under 30, Education 2020
- Forbes 30 Under 30 All Stars, Education 2021
- World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer 2025
- Workera named to Fast Company Most Innovative Companies 2024
- Workera ranked #397 on Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies 2025
- Co-created Deep Learning Specialization on Coursera - completed by 4M+ learners
- Raised $55.5M in total venture funding for Workera
- Workera verified 5M+ skills and 100M+ skill data points
- LinkedIn following of 41K+ (Top 1% influence in France in AI Education per Favikon)

## Latest updates

- **2025-04** — Spoke at ASU GSV Summit 2026 on 'From Gut Feel to Skills Intelligence' and 'The AI-Native Talent Stack'
- **2025-01** — Workera received additional venture funding; named WEF Technology Pioneer 2025
- **2025-01** — Workera ranked #397 on Inc. 5000 list of America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies
- **2024-11** — Launched Sage, Workera's AI mentorship agent, in early access - general availability March 2025
- **2024-09** — TechCrunch profile: 'Workera's CEO was mentored by Andrew Ng. Now he wants an AI agent to mentor you.'
- **2024-03** — Workera named to Fast Company Most Innovative Companies 2024 alongside Microsoft and Canva

## Links

- Website: https://workera.ai
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiankatan
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/kiankatan
- GitHub: https://github.com/kiank
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOxIFpQcBCs

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/kian-katanforoosh
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-12