Quiklearn, the AI-powered edtech platform chaired by Utah Technology Hall of Fame inductee David R. Bradford (former CEO of HireVue and Fusion-io), set out to make rigorous K–12 learning as engaging as a video game. With DeepRails as a strategic partner, Quiklearn turned that vision into a scalable, trusted product and delivered 100x growth in student enrollment thanks to faster adoption.
The challenge
Quicklearn’s early content was amazingly creative (with courses like Art and Painting with DaVinci and Early Life of Mahatma Gandhi), but hard to sell to U.S. schools and parents without clear grade-level alignment. In addition, safety concerns around AI tutors (hallucinations, misinformation, inappropriate responses) slowed adoption.
The approach
DeepRails partnered with Quiklearn to create a standards-aligned, market-ready product suite for 2nd–8th graders. Each grade was broken into ten units per subject, delivered inside uniquely themed metaverses, and taught by historical figures like Lincoln, Einstein, and Cleopatra. Students navigated lessons via portals that connected immersive worlds back to a central hub, QuikBase.At the heart of every interaction sat DeepRails Defend API, ensuring every AI-powered tutor session was correct, complete, and safe before responses ever reached students.
How we built it:
Curriculum alignment: Disparate content was restructured into U.S. standards-based units, each with its own immersive 3D world.
Historical figure tutors: Figures were given one-to-one tutoring capabilities, responding in real-time through text and audio.
Portals & QuikBase: Metaverses were interconnected to let students advance through lessons in sequence, while QuikBase acted as a home hub for social learning.
AI-first marketing: Ads featured Quiklearn’s AI tutors as the “faces” of campaigns, leveraging viral video strategies—like FluentWorlds’ Duolingo parody that hit 2M views—to drive downloads and engagement.
Enterprise distribution: In addition to direct-to-consumer, Quiklearn launched an enterprise channel, including white-labeled deployments like LibertyQuest, an educational theme park experience in Utah.
Defend API guardrails: Every AI output passed through DeepRails’ Defend API. Unsafe or incomplete responses were blocked, regenerated, or fixed before delivery, providing museum-grade reliability for students and parents.
Why it worked
Defend API as the backbone: By enforcing real-time safety and correctness guardrails, DeepRails gave Quiklearn unmatched trust with parents, schools, and enterprises.
Marketable structure: Standards alignment and immersive metaverses created a clear, compelling product story.
Scalable storytelling: Viral campaigns featuring AI tutors gave Quiklearn a brand identity that resonated with kids and parents alike.
Enterprise flexibility: From classrooms to theme parks, Quiklearn showed that Defend-powered AI could be deployed safely anywhere.
The outcome
100x student numbers: Quicker adoption, driven by ironclad safety and clear standards alignment, increased Quiklearn’s student base by 100x.
>500,000 students served globally across Quiklearn and FluentWorlds.
Zero safety failures: Parents and enterprise customers reported no unsafe or inappropriate responses, even under heavy testing.
Proven scalability: From classrooms to a theme park, Quiklearn demonstrated Defend-powered AI can be deployed safely anywhere.
Enterprise validation: Partnerships like LibertyQuest proved Quiklearn’s ability to scale outside traditional classrooms.
From uncertainty to fast adoption, Quiklearn demonstrated how DeepRails Defend API can transform ambitious ideas into safe, market-ready learning experiences for hundreds of thousands of students worldwide.
