The Next Word, with Matt Esterman

AI is already in the room. What happens next is a human question.

I’m Matt Esterman. I help people make sense of AI, build capability and take their next steps together.

Let’s work on your next step Experience the approach

start human. use ai. stay human.

Matt Esterman on stage beside a large screen that reads “Current capabilities of AI in education”, with an audience seated in the foreground.

We work with K-12 schools, universities, training organisations and RTOs, not-for-profits and charities, SMEs and teams in large companies, and government agencies.

A question from the room

What’s happening in your organisation?

Pick the one that sounds most like this term. Nothing is scored or sent anywhere. It stays in your browser, and the whole page is here whichever you choose.

Skip this and keep reading

About a minute. Illustrative, not an assessment.

Let’s try something.

A school introduces an AI tool to save teachers time. Some teachers embrace it. Others worry about learning. Students are already using something different. Parents want answers.

    Where would you begin?

    Skip the exercise Want a longer version? Play The Principal’s Dilemma, eight decisions across a school year.

    The wider picture

    No decision about AI sits on its own.

    Select a person or an issue to see a few of the relationships it touches. This is an illustrative map for conversation. It doesn’t predict what will happen in your organisation.

    Explore the full Schools as Ecosystems map

    Read every connection as text

      Work together

      From the audience, to the table, to the work itself.

      Three ways we work with people. Most relationships start with one and grow into the next.

      Matt Esterman speaking with a microphone to a full room at an evening event for teachers, one arm outstretched.

      One

      Open the conversation.

      Keynotes and facilitated events that help people see their situation differently.

      The situation you bring
      AI keeps coming up: in the staff room, at the board table, at the school gate. Everyone seems to be describing a different thing.
      What we actually do
      I bring a session built for your audience, not slides off a digital shelf. We look at what AI can do today, test it against your context, and people talk with each other as well as listening to me.
      What people leave with
      A shared picture of what’s happening, language they can use with each other, and a few questions worth carrying into the next meeting.

      Formats AI landscape interactive keynotes · presentations and keyshops of one to two hours · conference and event sessions · online or in person

      Thanks to Matt, participants left the presentation feeling informed, inspired, and more confident in navigating this evolving landscape.

      History Teachers’ Association of Victoria (HTAV), after an online masterclass

      Talk about an event

      Seen from the back of the room: participants seated at tables with coffee and notes while Matt Esterman speaks at the front, one hand raised.

      Two

      Build capability together.

      Workshops, staff learning, leadership sessions, student experiences and parent conversations.

      The situation you bring
      Some people are flying, some are waiting for permission and some are worried. You’d like everyone at a confident minimum, in your context.
      What we actually do
      We get on the tools together, using your approved AI systems. We work on real things: an assessment that needs another look, a team’s way of working, a conversation with students or parents.
      What people leave with
      Practical skills, a position they can explain in their own words, and next steps that belong to them.

      Formats Whole staff immersion · leadership clarity · Heads of Department strategy lab · assessment redesign · practical skills and impact · student wellbeing in the age of AI · K-12 student days · parent sessions. Full day or half day, with leadership and parent sessions also available by the hour.

      The two-day immersion

      1. First Listening and observing
      2. Then Building shared capability
      3. Finally Agreeing practical next steps

      We felt provoked to think differently but also supported to do so in our own context.

      Principal, Sunland Baptist Academy, Bahamas

      Matt's presentation was not only engaging but also expertly tailored to the specific needs of our teaching staff.

      Deputy Principal, NSW, Australia

      or book a session now

      Three

      Stay alongside the work.

      Advisory relationships and partnerships that help people implement, reflect and adjust.

      The situation you bring
      The workshop went well. Now the working party has met twice, the harder decisions are arriving, and the people leading this would value some company.
      What we actually do
      We act as your guide on the side. We work with your internal leads, help design the roadmap, check progress and adjust as things change.
      What people leave with
      A roadmap you own, people inside your organisation who can lead it, and progress measured against your own baseline.

      Advice is kept separate from professional learning, so you only pay for the training you choose to run. The advisory partnership comes at three levels.

      … filled us with the confidence we needed to work with, and ideally lead, this work within our communities.

      Principal, South Australia

      Matt Esterman speaking at a lectern, both hands raised mid-explanation.
      Thinking out loud.

      Meet Matt

      A teacher first. Still curious.

      I’ve worked in education for more than 15 years, as a teacher, school leader, presenter, writer and consultant. I hold postgraduate degrees from Macquarie University and the University of Sydney, and I received the Commonwealth Bank Teaching Fellowship for 2023, supported by Australian Schools Plus.

      Along the way I’ve explored eSports, entrepreneurship, partner projects, school design and professional learning. These days most of my work is about the strategic and practical use of AI: its potential and its pitfalls.

      I believe we can bend the future using creativity, critical thinking and compassion. I also know I’m only visiting. The work belongs to the people in the room.

      Matt on LinkedIn

      How we work, in four words.

      • Evidence. We find out the facts first. No hallucinations.
      • Credibility. We do the work and stay true to our values.
      • Context. We respect yours, and grow something that works for you.
      • Care. We care about you and your mission.
      Where the four words come from: the LEAP framework

      LEAP stands for Logos (finding out the facts and gathering evidence), Ethos (the credibility of doing the work and staying true to our values), Agora (respect for your context, to grow something that works for you) and Pathos (care for you and your mission).

      We also use the word for how we arrive and leave. We leap in to a project from where you’re at, not where a document hopes you might be. We leap out when a project concludes, because we know we’re only visiting.

      The wider team: associates and partner organisations

      The Next Word works as an alliance of like-minded people. Associates are independent collaborators who join particular engagements where their expertise fits. They are not full-time staff, and not every associate is part of every engagement.

        Partner organisations

        Organisations we collaborate with. These are partners, which is different from being clients.

          Resources

          Take something useful with you.

          Tools, papers and books from The Next Word. Everything here is free to open, with no sign-up. Books and journals link to their publishers.

            Let’s talk

            What are you working through?

            You don’t need to arrive with a finished brief. Tell me what’s happening, who’s involved and what you’d like to move forward.

            Already know the session you want?

            Book a session

            Nothing is confirmed until dates, scope and price are agreed with you.

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            What others say

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