#92: Are universities failing to prepare students for jobs? | Stephen Cognetta (Co-founder @ Exponent, ex-Google)

Jan 12, 2026

Stephen Cognetta, co-founder of Exponent and former Google employee, dives into the evolving role of education in the age of AI. He discusses how traditional universities lag behind job market needs and how students view school as a job pipeline. Cognetta explores the changing value of lectures in light of AI's capabilities and argues for experiential learning over passive education. He emphasizes the importance of interview preparation over classroom attendance and highlights the significance of domain experience as a crucial hiring signal.

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ANECDOTE

Placement-Obsessed Finance Master's

Ben describes a finance master's program that tracked placement rates obsessively and filtered for applicants early.
That program focused on real-world signals and delivered very high placement outcomes.

INSIGHT

Teach By Simulation, Not Lecture

Professors must become performers and simulation designers to remain valuable.
High-fidelity, work-like simulations beat pure lecturing in preparing students for jobs.

INSIGHT

Interview Prep Can Outweigh Classes

Interview prep can be more valuable than classroom learning for landing tech roles.
Mastering the interview 'game' and getting reps often beats traditional coursework.

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What is the role of education when AI can explain, generate, and tutor instantly, and what does that mean for how we learn, teach, and evaluate understanding?

In this episode of Supra Insider, Marc Baselga and Ben Erez sit down with Stephen Cognetta to explore how education is evolving in the age of AI, and why many existing learning models are fundamentally misaligned with how people actually develop understanding. The conversation challenges long-held assumptions about credentials, classrooms, and expertise, and digs into what truly matters when information becomes abundant and cheap.

Stephen shares perspectives on how learning really happens, why traditional institutions struggle to adapt, and how AI changes the value of memorization versus intuition, judgment, and synthesis. They discuss the tension between structured education and self-directed learning, how product thinking applies to education systems, and why curiosity and experimentation matter more than polished answers.

This episode is especially relevant for product leaders, builders, and operators who care about learning, not just as students, but as designers of systems that help people grow. It offers a thoughtful look at how AI reshapes education, careers, and what it means to be “qualified” in the future.

All episodes of the podcast are also available on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.

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Interviewing at Uber, Figma, Stripe, or DoorDash?

If you’re a PM preparing for interviews at Uber, Figma, Stripe, and DoorDash… we think you’re going to love Insider Loops. You can read about it in Ben’s LI post, Marc’s LI post or check out the site directly below.

In this episode, we covered the following topics:

* (2:28) Universities today are shifting from education to job-placement pipelines

* (7:27) Why universities buy tools like Exponent instead of changing curricula

* (12:25) Should you get a degree to become a PM? Ship real things + get real feedback

* (16:55) MBA vs PM bootcamps—and how AI reshapes what bootcamps can actually offer

* (20:23) Stephen’s teaching philosophy: professors as performers and simulation designers

* (25:30) Ben’s finance program example: in placement-driven rigor and rubric-based prep

* (36:10) Self-discovery, contribution, and why time off can accelerate finding your “zone of genius”

* (44:21) Can Exponent help people earlier than interviews—before they know what to pursue?

* (50:14) Interview is a mental game of anxiety, confidence, and social reinforcement

* (59:12) Highest-leverage interview prep: go to the source and maximize simulation fidelity

* (1:10:04) The gold-standard mock with calibrated interviewer + scoring breakdown

* (1:15:31) Gratitude corner: Stephen thanks his co-founder Jacob

* And more!

Links:

* Stephen Cognetta’s Website: https://www.stephencognetta.com/

* Exponent: https://www.tryexponent.com/

* Register a guest lecturer at Open Lecture: https://www.openlecture.com/

* Jacob Simon (Co-founder of Exponent): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobsimon1

* Stephen Cognetta: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephencognetta/

* Marc: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbaselga/

* Ben: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benerez/

Resources Mentioned:

* Enders Game - book mentioned by Stephen

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