A new artificial intelligence platform, Nabla, developed in Sant Cugat del Vallès, is entering classrooms to help teachers manage their time better and address student diversity. The tool, created by two Catalan engineers, automates the generation, adaptation, and evaluation of educational activities.
The project originated from co-founder Gerard Solanes' experience as a secondary school teacher in Sant Cugat. Solanes explained that a recurring issue for teachers is a lack of time, resources, and support, a situation he believes has reached a "critical point" in recent years. The idea for Nabla began during the 2019-2020 academic year, marked by the pandemic, when the founders observed the difficulties teachers faced in reaching all students.
Streamlining Classroom Tasks
Solanes and Èric Terrisses, the other co-founder, considered how technology could ease this burden without losing the essential human element of teaching. Nabla focuses on three main functions: generating content, adapting it for different needs, and evaluating it. "We help teachers generate activities, adapt them for students with special educational needs, and evaluate them," Solanes summarised.
In practice, a teacher creates an activity on the platform, adjusts it for various student levels, and prints it for the classroom. Students complete the exercises, which are then digitised for the system to provide detailed corrections and personalised feedback. This process significantly reduces the time spent on repetitive tasks.
Solanes stated that the platform measures the time teachers spend correcting activities and compares it to a standard. "Where I might spend an hour evaluating an entire class, a teacher now spends about 20 minutes," he explained. In some cases, he claimed, this saving can reach up to 80%, though it typically hovers around 60%.
Expanding Reach and Addressing Concerns
Nabla's implementation in schools is recent. The 2025-2026 academic year marked its debut in classrooms, starting with two schools, one in Sant Cugat and one in Terrassa. It has since expanded to 27 centres, mostly private and semi-private, but also some public schools. The initiative has also started to roll out in public schools in Andorra.
Solanes identified the increasing diversity in classrooms as a key challenge. "Every student has very specific needs, and it is physically impossible to reach everyone with guarantees," he noted. He argued that technology can complement teaching, but not replace it. "We do not want it to replace the personal and emotional part of the teacher, which is the basis of education."
The introduction of AI in education does generate debate. Solanes recognised some apprehension within the sector. "Some teachers ask if this will replace them, but the answer is no. What it will do is redefine tasks." He also admitted that technology is not infallible and requires clear limits on its functions. Another potential risk is an increase in inequalities between educational centres due to uneven implementation.
Despite these concerns, Nabla's co-founder believes the current climate demands an embrace of such tools. "The risk of falling behind now is greater than ever," he said. Looking ahead, Solanes advocates for an educational model that combines methodologies and provides teachers with more resources. "Vocation must be accompanied by well-being and tools," he concluded.
