Musa EdTech Revolution with WhatsApp and Human Centered Design

Discussion with Mónica Ramos

Mónica Ramos’s career spans engineering, firefighting, social entrepreneurship, and technology, fields that might seem unrelated but share a common thread in her work: blending purpose with scale. From sanitation projects in Lima to Resto-Zero’s circular economy model, she has consistently designed solutions that serve communities first. Today, as founder of Musa, she applies that vision to education, turning WhatsApp into an unlikely but powerful platform for democratizing learning across Latin America and beyond. In this article, Ramos reflects on Musa’s origins, its remarkable completion rates, and how partnerships and human-centered design are enabling inclusive growth.

From Observation to Action: The Birth of Musa

Musa emerged from a clear but often overlooked truth: those who most need education often have the least access to it. The pandemic made this gap undeniable, as workers, women, and vulnerable groups fell further behind, not only in traditional classrooms but also in digital learning environments that assumed high bandwidth, devices, or advanced digital literacy.

“Musa was born from a very simple but powerful observation: the people with the greatest need for learning often had the least access to it”, Ramos explains. Instead of designing another complex tool for the few, Musa focused on reach for the many.

This mindset reframed what innovation means in EdTech. By prioritizing simplicity and universality, Musa showed that educational equity can be advanced through tools people already use daily, turning inclusion from an aspiration into a design principle.

Meeting Learners on Familiar Ground

Rather than asking learners to adapt to new systems, Musa adapted to theirs. In Latin America, WhatsApp is ubiquitous, used by billions for work, family, and community. By embedding learning into this familiar environment, Musa removed barriers of logins, downloads, or unfamiliar interfaces.

“The best innovations don’t always come from adding more, sometimes they come from taking away”, Ramos says. This thinking led them to ask what tool people already used every single day, and the answer was WhatsApp, transforming a familiar app into a powerful vehicle for learning.

What makes this choice so powerful is its simplicity. While the EdTech world often chases novelty, Musa embraced familiarity. This move ensured that even the most digitally inexperienced users could participate fully in learning. It turned WhatsApp into more than a chat platform; it became a global classroom without walls. 

Designing for Impact Human-Centered Simplicity and Measurable Outcomes

Behind Musa’s apparent simplicity lies a rigorous design philosophy. Microlearning modules, interactive prompts, and real-time analytics create a dual benefit: learners experience education as effortless, while organizations gain precise insights into engagement and outcomes. 

As Mónica describes, “We designed Musa to feel effortless for the learner, but behind the scenes it’s full of rigor”. Unlike many digital learning platforms where completion rates often fall below 20%, Musa consistently achieves over 90%. The secret lies in its respect for learners’ time and context, combined with behavioral design and storytelling. By treating education as a conversation rather than a chore, Musa turned learning into something people look forward to.

“It comes down to human-centered design”, Mónicas says. Courses are designed to be short, culturally and contextually relevant, and immediately applicable to daily life. Learning doesn’t feel like an obligation; it feels like a conversation. This approach bridges the gap between accessibility and accountability. Learners engage deeply because they feel understood and respected, while businesses can measure ROI with confidence. Empathy in design, combined with rigorous measurement, directly translates into both social and business impact.

How Strategic Partnerships Drive EdTech Growth

From the outset, Musa was built with scale in mind. Automation, cloud infrastructure, and its AI assistant MIA enable rapid expansion without compromising quality. But technology alone wasn’t enough, strategic partnerships became the foundation of its growth. Collaborating with banks, NGOs, multilaterals, and corporations became early adopters, validating the model and amplifying its reach.

Institutions such as BCP, Mibanco, Solidaridad Network, UNDP, UNICEF, Walmart, and Natura partnered with Musa to train employees and communities at scale. “Their confidence became the engine of our growth”, Ramos recalls.

The insight here is that scale in EdTech rarely comes from technology alone, it comes from ecosystems of trust. By aligning with mission-driven organizations, Musa multiplied both its impact and its sustainability.

Global Expansion with Local Relevance

While Musa was born in Latin America, it was designed to be global from day one. The platform’s flexibility allows for localization that resonates deeply with learners in diverse settings. This blend of global structure and local authenticity ensures learning is meaningful across cultures and industries. “We believe in global frameworks with local hearts”, Ramos says. Every course is adapted with local experts so that language, tone, and examples truly resonate.

By recognizing that context is everything, Musa ensures that learners feel seen and respected. This adaptability gives Musa a universal appeal without diluting relevance. Global expansion must be rooted in local realities. Scaling inclusively requires listening, adapting, and co-creating with communities.

EdTech Inclusion Through Technology and WhatsApp Learning

Perhaps Musa’s greatest achievement is reaching populations long excluded from education: migrants, rural workers, and women in underserved communities. By leveraging WhatsApp, a free tool even on prepaid plans, Musa bypasses the typical digital divide of expensive devices or advanced digital literacy. It proves that with the right design, inclusion is not aspirational but achievable at scale.

“For me, Musa is not just a company; it’s an inclusion engine that proves technology can serve everyone, not just the privileged few”, Mónica affirms. This is a reminder that technology’s true value lies in its reach. Inclusion is not a corporate responsibility project on the side; it is a growth strategy. Organizations that design for the margins often discover solutions that work better for everyone. Musa shows that impact and profitability can move in tandem when inclusion is built into the foundation.

Key Takeaways for Executives

The Musa story offers valuable lessons for global leaders navigating workforce transformation:

• Accessibility drives adoption: The easier you make it, the more people engage.
• Simplicity and data can coexist: You don’t need complex platforms to measure impact.
• Inclusion is scalable: With the right design, you can reach every corner of the workforce and the community.

Musa’s journey is more than an EdTech success story. It is proof that “when technology is designed with empathy and ambition, it can transform both business outcomes and society”.

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