Scaling AI and Digital Upskilling for Refugee and Migrant Women in Germany
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Table of contents
- The problem
- What's already in place
- Project scope
- Users and functionalities
- Data
- Desired expertise
- Success vision
- Supporting resources
The problem
Problem statement
The THRIVE program and its Learning Hub feature on Kiron Campus address the lack of accessible, structured, and supportive learning opportunities that enable learners with diverse backgrounds, particularly those facing social, economic, or migration related barriers, to progress from training into employment. The Learning Hub is a dedicated, custom built area within Kiron Campus for THRIVE participants, bringing each learner's goals, tasks, resources, live sessions and progress into one place, creating a clearer, more supportive journey from onboarding through to work or further opportunity.
While THRIVE shows strong demand and satisfaction, 446 learners enrolled against a target of 450, with an average course rating of 4.89 out of 5, only 55% completed the Foundation stage, and 41 accepted learners never activated at all. This suggests the core challenge isn't the quality of learning, but keeping learners engaged and supported between sessions, at moments that are time sensitive: knowing what's next, catching a reminder before a deadline, or recovering after a missed session.
This currently depends on manual staff effort. Learners generate over 1,000 contact requests per round, most answerable from their own progress and course context. Reactivation is similarly manual, with no systematic way to nudge learners before they disengage. As enrollment grows, this model doesn't scale; more learners mean proportionally more support requests and follow-up.
A further gap is outcome visibility. Kiron doesn't collect structured data on what happens between touchpoints, whether learners are networking, applying, or receiving interviews, limiting tailored coaching and impact evidence.
We propose the THRIVE Companion: a mobile AI coach alongside Kiron Campus desktop, with a Today view, an AI coach chat grounded in real progress, and a Journey view capturing outcome data, reducing staff effort per learner while giving Kiron visibility into employment progress.
What's already in place
Current tech stack
- Web application
- Cloud infrastructure
- CRM or case management system
- Data warehouse or database
- APIs or external integrations
- Frontend or user interface
- Backend or core logic
- Data pipelines or databases
- AI or analytics components
- Integrations with external systems
The foundation is the Learning Hub, a dedicated THRIVE space within Kiron Campus bringing together each learner's goals, tasks, live sessions, resources and milestones in one place. It offers curated content, live session scheduling, and weekly or biweekly task lists as actionable to-dos, with guidance on expectations for each. Learners can add sessions to their calendars, and we already collect feedback, engagement data and behavioral signals such as missed tasks or inactivity, letting staff identify learners needing support. This structure is what the THRIVE Companion builds on and extends into learners' daily lives on mobile.
The Companion is a mobile AI coach alongside the Kiron Campus desktop platform. It doesn't replace desktop study, it accompanies learners between sessions through three screens.
Today brings the Learning Hub's structure to the phone: a streak badge, current task list with progress, an upcoming event with a calendar CTA, an open to-do, and a reminder strip for anything the learner asked to be nudged about, keeping learners oriented without needing to return to desktop.
Ask the AI coach is a real chat, opened from suggested prompts or a course card, grounded in the specific course, the broader program structure, and the learner's own real progress. It can explain a concept, clarify a requirement, point to a resource, or show where a missed session leaves them relative to deadlines, resolving the routine share of the 1,000+ contact requests per round instantly rather than as a support ticket.
Journey combines streak and consistency insights, such as best study time and repeat visits, with a monthly check-in: four quick questions on CV readiness, networking, applications, and interviews, giving structured outcome data we don't currently collect.
Together, Today reduces drop-off, the coach absorbs routine support, and Journey closes a data gap, freeing staff to focus where their judgment matters most.
Project scope
We aim to build THRIVE Mobile, a cross-platform mobile companion for THRIVE learners, connected directly to our existing Learning Hub on Kiron Campus, building on our current architecture (Laravel-based CMS, GraphQL API, React frontend, PostgreSQL database and Kubernetes infrastructure).
Internally, Kiron will extend its existing API to expose richer programme and learning context, including learner activity and progress, todos and deadlines, programme milestones, FAQs, and cohort-level status data. This gives the mobile companion a reliable foundation to build on without starting from zero.
The primary ask for a tech partner is to design and build the mobile companion itself: a cross-platform app (iOS and Android) that surfaces personalised next steps, progress, notifications, live sessions and community activity, alongside an AI learning coach grounded in this programme context. The AI component would answer routine learner questions, explain programme requirements, help learners catch up after missed sessions, and identify when a case should be escalated to programme staff rather than handled automatically.
The partner would also help design the integration layer between the mobile app and our API, structure learner data for use as AI context, and support behavioral-change features such as reminders, nudges and engagement tracking, informed by a Capability-Opportunity-Motivation analysis of where learners currently disengage.
On the internal side, we will continue integrating AI into our existing automation layer to support processes such as data classification and reporting, in parallel with the mobile build.
Overall, the goal is to move from a strong technical and programme foundation to a mobile companion that helps THRIVE scale learner support without a proportional increase in staff workload.
Users and functionalities
User group 1: Learners → Use the mobile companion to see personalised next steps and progress, receive timely notifications and reminders, join live sessions and access recordings while on the go, complete lightweight learning activities, participate in community discussions, ask the AI learning coach routine questions about deadlines, requirements or missed content, and request human support when needed.
User group 2: Program staff and mentors → Use a lightweight mobile view to see learners who may need attention, respond to escalated support or community requests, monitor engagement signals and follow up with learners directly from their phones, while continuing to provide coaching and more complex support through existing channels.
User group 3: Program administrators and operations team → Manage content and programme structure via the CMS, configure learning paths and milestones, extend the API to expose programme context to the mobile companion, oversee analytics and reporting on engagement and completion, and optimize programme delivery based on usage and outcome data.
Data
Data Readiness
- Internal databases or systems
- Spreadsheets or documents
- Third-party systems
Desired expertise
Tech partner role
We are looking to collaborate with a multidisciplinary technical team with expertise in mobile development, AI and scalable system integration, complementing our existing team of full-stack engineers.
Key profiles include:
Mobile Engineers with experience building native or cross-platform apps for both iOS and Android, to design and build THRIVE Mobile as a reliable, cross-platform companion app connected to our existing platform.
AI/Machine Learning Engineers with experience in LLMs and conversational AI, to support the development of the AI learning coach and personalization features within the mobile app.
Data Scientists/Data Engineers to help structure learner activity data and design pipelines that give the AI coach reliable, up-to-date context.
DevOps/Cloud Engineers with experience in Kubernetes and scalable infrastructure, to support reliable deployment and performance of the mobile app and AI components.
UX/Product Designers with experience in mobile and AI-driven products, to design a clear, low-friction mobile experience and effective interactions with the AI coach.
Full-stack Engineers (backend and frontend) with experience in APIs and integrations, to help extend our existing GraphQL API and support the connection between the mobile app and our platform.
Success vision
If these challenges were addressed through the THRIVE Companion, the program could deliver improved outcomes at scale, reaching more learners without a proportional rise in staff effort.
Completion rates would improve because learners would have continuous, lightweight support between sessions, not only during them. The Today view would keep learners oriented on active tasks, progress and upcoming events, reducing drop-off that happens simply because learners lose track of what to do next. The AI coach would be grounded in three layers of context: the specific course, the broader program structure, and the learner's own real progress, so it can explain a concept, clarify a requirement, point to the right resource, or show where a missed session leaves them relative to deadlines. This grounding lets the coach genuinely guide learners rather than offer generic advice, resolving routine questions instantly instead of learners waiting on staff, shortening the gap between "I'm stuck" and getting help, often the moment engagement is lost.
Re-engagement would become proactive rather than manual. Instead of staff identifying inactive learners by hand, the Companion would surface reminders automatically and let learners self-serve nudges, catching disengagement earlier and more consistently.
We would also gain outcome visibility we don't currently have. The Journey view's monthly check-in would give structured, recurring data on CV readiness, networking, applications, and interviews, letting us tailor coaching and demonstrate, rather than assume, THRIVE's contribution to employment outcomes.
Operationally, the 1,000+ contact requests per round would shift from a fixed staff cost to something the Companion absorbs, freeing staff for learners who need real human judgment.
Overall, success means stronger completion, earlier re-engagement, real outcome data, and the ability to scale THRIVE without proportional staff growth.
Kiron Open Higher Education
Kiron’s mission is to expand access to education and the labor market for refugees and other displaced communities. We create pathways to learning, skills development, and economic opportunity. Our approach combines accessible digital learning with practical support and clearer pathways into the labor market. We design and deliver upskilling programs in areas linked to labor market demand, including digital and AI-related skills, language learning and career readiness. We also provide guidance, coaching and structured transition support to help learners move from training into further study, internships or employment. We pursue this mission through a blended delivery model. In Germany and Afghanistan, we work with local partners to deliver intensive programs that combine digital learning with tailored support. These programs have strong community-building elements, tailored pathways and alumni networks that extend beyond the classroom. Our programs focus on skills that are increasingly important in today’s labor market, including digital and AI-related skills, language learning, and career readiness. Depending on the context, the programs combine self-paced learning with mentorship, vocational training and job matching support. Alongside our tailored programs, we maintain scalable digital offers on our purpose-built Kiron Campus. This allows us to reach displaced learners across different regions and contexts. Since 2015, more than 200,000 students have accessed opportunities through Kiron Campus. Our campus is designed for accessibility across diverse settings. It offers slow bandwidth access, mobile-first features and a virtual community hub to create a supportive learning environment. Our work is shaped through collaboration with our learners, employers, public institutions, civil society actors and technology partners, so that learning pathways are not only accessible, but also responsive to evolving workforce needs.
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