Andy Lord has made his return to the EdTech scene – and this time it could be bigger than before.
The entrepreneur, best known for founding Rethink Group and later Code Nation, has opened offices in Manchester and Cardiff with a brand-new venture looking to rethink education once again.
OpenRain.io is his fourth training business, but it’s not just a repeat performance. The firm is a response to everything he’s learned over decades in tech, training, and human capital – and this time, he’s armed with the power of AI.
“Yes, you could say it’s full circle,” he told BusinessCloud. “But with a whole world of learning behind me.
“This isn’t just another training school. It’s built with AI at its core, not just for delivery, but also for content creation, feedback loops, and tailored learning experiences.”
Making AI useful
Despite AI’s long-standing place in the tech world, it has only recently become a mainstream talking point and a ‘buzzword’.
Bury-born Lord is fascinated by its acceleration and keen to work with it rather than against it.
He said: “Most people don’t realise just how fast this tech is advancing. What happened with AI in the last six months is equivalent to the iPhone’s decade-long evolution and the next six months will be the same again.
“People think ‘AI will take our jobs’. Most are fearful, or just choose to ignore it, but we’re using AI to make training more human.
“We’re busting myths, making AI accessible, and showing people how to use it as a tool rather than something to fear.”
The TikTok generation
Lord is wholly aware that learning has changed since the start of his career in the industry and certainly since the pandemic in 2020.
“During Covid, people sat at home with a phone in their hand and a laptop on Zoom,” explained Lord, who previously founded specialist training provider Hydrogen Safe.
“They weren’t just watching lectures – they were scrolling and multitasking. That rewired people’s attention spans.
“My daughter, who is 25 now, learned to cook and mix cocktails via TikTok.
“My first reaction was ‘that’s not real learning’, but I’ve realised it’s brilliant. Bite-sized, visual, repeatable.”
OpenRain’s courses reflect that insight as content is delivered in micro-modules which can be five, 10 or 20 minutes long and are designed to be consumed in short bursts.
“People can’t take three days off for training anymore,” said the 56-year-old.
“So we make it easy to learn in between meetings, over lunch, or after work.”
This micro-learning model is underpinned by adaptive AI technology, which tailors the content based on a learner’s pace, preferences and gaps in understanding.
The strategy is powerful enough to personalise learning in ways Lord hasn’t been able to before in his career.
AI as the TA
Crucially for Lord, OpenRain doesn’t outsource teaching to machines. Instead, human experts craft the material and it is then enhanced by AI.
The AI element of it helps to refine quizzes, identify points that could cause users confusion and translate it into more readable and consumable formats.
He said: “We’re using AI to improve how teachers teach. If someone stumbles on a concept, we’ll reword it 10 different ways using AI.
“If neurodiverse learners are struggling with the format, we can adapt.
“This kind of level of tailoring used to be out of the question for us even six or nine months ago. Now, with how we’ve progressed, we have the world’s geniuses at our fingertips.”
Lord’s example of applying this approach to IEQ (Indoor Environmental Quality) training, tied to the incoming Awaab’s Law, is particularly striking.
The course – on a topic most people have never heard of – has become a flagship for OpenRain.
The serial entrepreneur recounted: “We took elements and used AI to help translate them into something a regular human can understand. It’s not about dumbing down, it’s about making it stick.”
The global vision
OpenRain recently won a huge contract under the Swansea Bay City Deal’s Skills and Talent Programme, but Lord insists that it is just the beginning.
“That contract validates that the industry needs what we’re building,” he affirmed.
“But the real power is that our content can be translated and deployed globally with the click of a button. IEQ, hydrogen, AI literacy – these are universal subjects.”
“All the time in this day and age, you have entrepreneurs saying that their business is going to be a unicorn and then two years later it’s gone bankrupt.
“That won’t be us unless our model changes dramatically, but I have no doubt we’ll be a £100m turnover business. Our model is lean and our reach is global.”
With around 12 core team members and a network of fractional experts, the company seeks efficiency by keeping costs down and agility high.
Lord added: “Why hire 20 instructors when I can use brilliant fractional talent and digital avatars? That’s modern business and that’s how we scale.”
Making learning accessible
For the business mogul, this isn’t just a commercial project – it’s deeply personal.
He left school before taking exams, frustrated by a system that didn’t cater to how he learned.
“I wasn’t stupid, I was bored,” he explained. “I didn’t fit into that model and I’ve been trying to fix that ever since.”
His goal is to democratise training by making it accessible in every sense, including cost, format and relevance.
The company’s courses are also designed to work around people’s lives rather than against them.
Lord said: “Whether it’s a carer in a care home, a technician learning about hydrogen, or someone curious about AI, they shouldn’t need a degree or a spare week to level up.”
Human first
Despite the tech-driven foundation, Lord is adamant that human expertise remains central.
He explained: “All our content is created by teachers, researchers, and subject-matter experts. AI enhances it, but people remain at the core.
“There are so many people with brilliant brains who’ve been let down by the system. If we can use our human touch to help unlock their potential through smarter training, we can change lives and transform industries.
“We’re not just about upskilling individuals, we want to modernise whole sectors.”
Open to the future
Lord sees the global potential of his own firm. In five years’ time he sees OpenRain as an international platform, scaling content that meets real industrial demand, in formats people love and at prices they can afford. He’s also not shy to talk about exit plans with a buyer who shares his vision.
“I’ve been CEO of £100m revenue companies before, but I’ve never had a venture that aligned so clearly with my values and where the world is going,” he said.
“We’re building something that feels urgent and important and that’s more exciting than any sort of numbers or valuation.”