Diane Tavenner and I interviewed Paymon Rouhanifard, CEO of Timely, to explore how AI optimization can transform master scheduling in schools. The conversation unpacked the critical role that master schedules play in shaping student experiences, resource allocation, and district priorities. Paymon explained the pain points schools face with traditional scheduling methods and how Timely’s AI-driven approach saves hundreds of hours while enabling systemic change and better use of resources.
Although this was Paymon’s first appearance on Class Disrupted, this is his second appearance on the Future of Education. You can check out his first one here.
Diane Tavenner
Hey, this is Diane, and you’re about to listen to an interview that Michael and I had with my friend Paymon Rouhanifard, who is the CEO of Timely, which is a company that’s helping schools figure out how to do their master schedules in a way that’s aligned with their values and what they’re trying to do to support their young people. And I love this interview. I think it’s so fun for us to really talk with someone who deeply understands schools and how they work and the operations of them and what’s going on and who is really trying to add value using AI in a way that feels very concrete and specific. And I just think you’re really going to enjoy Paymon’s thoughtfulness and his deep understanding of education and this really specific application of how AI is being used in education.
Diane Tavenner
Hey, Michael.
Michael Horn
Hey, Diane. It is good to see you. And I’m truly excited for today’s guest, someone we both know pretty well, who has been doing some very interesting work, some of the early innings of which I got to see up close because his company was incubated as part of Workshop Venture Partners, where I’m an advisor. And like Laurence Holt, he’s been on my Substack before, the Future of Education. So I’m excited for this conversation to dive a little bit deeper into what he’s doing and how it interfaces with AI.
Diane Tavenner
I agree, Michael. I’m excited to have Paymon on our podcast. We met when Paymon was leading Camden and I was leading Summit. And it’s interesting because I think fortunately for me at that time it was in a learning space where we met, and I did a lot of learning from Paymon and with Paymon, well, I’ll speak for myself. I did a lot of learning and feel really grateful that he’s here with us today. And so let me just tell those who don’t know a little bit about who Paymon is. He’s the co-founder and CEO of Timely, an education technology company that helps schools build better master schedules through AI optimization. Prior to that, he was the co-founder of Propel, which offers tuition free health care job training and is currently the chair of its board of directors. And as I said, he was the superintendent of Camden City Schools in New Jersey, among other roles in public education, from teacher to administrator.
And so Paymon, welcome. We’re so happy to have you here.
Paymon Rouhanifard
It’s really great to be here. Thanks for having me.
Michael Horn
Well, so I’m excited because let’s level set our audience and start at a high level and just help us understand exactly what Timely does and what problem it’s solving for school districts and school systems.
AI-Powered School Scheduling Support
Paymon Rouhanifard
Well, as Diane just mentioned, we help middle and high schools build their master schedule using AI optimization and dedicated support from a team of former educators who have built schedules before and also support with data integration. And I think to really understand our work, you have to understand the importance of the master schedule. And there’s sort of two parts to it. Part one is every school, including elementaries, although they have slightly less complicated schedules, but every school in the country has to build their master schedule every year, typically in the spring for the following fall semester. And it is an incredibly painful exercise at the school level where folks have just historically been using really clunky tools. And then the second part of it is the opportunity for systemic change and the connection to the central office to think about resource allocation more strategically, to think about priorities more strategically. And so there’s sort of those two components to it. But tactically, what we do is we help middle and high schools build their master schedule.
That is a painkiller at the school level. And again, can kind of enable key priorities at the central office.
Diane Tavenner
That’s awesome. Paymon, one of my, I’m going to disclose something weird here. I am like a fanatic about the master schedule. When I used to build the master schedule, I was like a lunatic around it. So I’m actually very nerdy and excited about what you do. And one of my concerns is that most people, when they talk about AI in education, the only image they have in their mind is literally a chatbot, you know, that’s mostly focused on the students or the teachers used in the classroom. And, you know, as Michael and I are shifting our conversation from sort of big picture AI to actual practitioners and the usage of AI in education, I really wanted to talk with you, and I’m glad we’re doing it first, because you’re working on the system of school, if you will, and your instance of AI is not a student directly interfacing with it, but has a massive impact on the student’s experience.
Because literally the master schedule is everything. I don’t think people realize that. It is sort of the infrastructure that controls almost everything. And when you’re in a district and you realize that, you realize all the power is in the master schedule. Right? And so tell you said it’s a pain point for schools, but paint that pain point a little bit more for us. Like, what problem were you setting out to solve for them, yes, it’s, like, laborious and kind of hard. But you know what? How does solving this lead us in a direction that you believe in in schools?
