Navid Nathoo is building Zero, an alternative to university for the AI-agent era, after co-founding The Knowledge Society (TKS), the accelerator that trains teenagers in frontier technology.
Worth knowing
He has built a training pipeline that takes 13-to-17-year-olds into AI, quantum computing and regenerative medicine, and has taken it from Canada to the Gulf. He has also sold a startup to Box and run product for machine learning and advanced security there, so he knows both sides of the technical talent question.
Story
Navid grew up in Calgary and studied at Ivey Business School at Western. His first company, Airpost, was a Toronto cloud-security startup that helped IT managers see what employee applications were doing, and Box acquired it in 2015. In 2016 he and his brother Nadeem started TKS, a human accelerator for teenagers. It grew into a global program, and in 2024 he named Calgary its global headquarters, with the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund backing scholarships for local students. He now works from Dubai, where TKS runs a program with the Dubai Future Foundation, and is building Zero as an alternative to higher education.
In Navid's words
Grew up in Calgary, studied at Ivey in London, first company in San Francisco, built TKS in Toronto; now in Dubai.
Highlights
- Co-founder, The Knowledge Society (2016); 6,000+ students trained in AI, quantum and biotech
- Founder/CEO, Airpost, acquired by Box in 2015
- Led product for machine learning, big data and advanced security at Box
- Started Zero in 2025
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