Naman Shrestha
Most of the college advisors tend to be accessible only to students belonging to wealthy families. In order to tackle that challenge and offer cost-friendly support for students, Julia Dixon came up with an ethical AI platform called ESAI. In the 19th episode of ABC’s ‘Shark Tank’ season 16, the Founder and CEO of the company pitched the uses and advantages of the freemium AI product, trying to bring the Sharks in front of her on board and take ESAI to the next level.
ESAI: Who Are They And What Do They Do?
With no prior plan to start her own business, Julia Dixon had a rather unconventional journey towards establishing ESAI. After graduating from Marian High School-Bloomfield Hills, she pursued a Bachelor of Arts/Science from the University of Michigan before becoming a private tutor at the university for a couple of years. Meanwhile, she also served as the Program Director at Black River Farm and Ranch from 2012 to 2017. Julia was also employed as a Production Intern at Visionalist Entertainment Productions as well as CBS Sports. Right before founding ESAI, she had been working at Weber Shandwick for more than six years.
Starting out as a Media Genius Fellow, she moved up the ranks and took on the roles of an Associate, Content Manager, and Senior Strategist, before finally becoming the Senior Cultural Strategist at the company. For the longest time, all she believed was that she had a successful marketing career ahead of her, until the idea for ESAI struck her. Much before that, she worked as a college advisor, helping out her friends and their relatives to write and edit their admission essays. As her demand increased, she began charging for her services as an advisor and built her own little side business of sorts.
Julia realized that some of the elite advisors’ services cost in six figures, something only the wealthy families could afford. So, she used to charge on the lowest end of what advisors usually charged. “But I wanted to create a way that all kinds of students could get this support. Very individualized coaching in terms of… what should you write your essays about? What school should you even apply to? How do we match your story to those schools? All those things that are a lot for a 17-year-old to grasp when it comes to creating a personal brand and summarizing everything about yourself,” she told 129 Ways to Get a Life. Already having knowledge of what AI was capable of, she realized how it could be used to make unlikely connections by “taking a large amount of data and distilling it into something simpler.”
Thus, the New York-based ESAI was launched into existence in early 2023 by Julia Dixon. As the Founder and CEO of the first-of-its-kind ethical AI platform, Julia has helped level the playing field in order to help students of all backgrounds have a fair shot at making it into their preferred colleges and universities. The freemium AI product is a high-quality personalized tutor that provides essay feedback, admissions strategies, and scholarship resources to students, especially those who have limited income or resources. Ever since its launch, ESAI has reached more than 20 million individuals through TikTok and has directly helped more than 100,000 students in the admissions process.
ESAI: Where Are They Now?
The response to ESAI has been mostly favorable, with the business showing a burgeoning success. Since its launch in 2023, Julia Dixon has bagged about $1.25 million in funding. According to reports, over 350,000 students from high school had already utilized the services of the AI tool for a smooth college application process by 2024. In early 2024, Julia Dixon was selected as one of the leading women to promote the advancements of AI in the field of education at THE AI SHOW @ ASU+GSV (AI Revolution in Education). The year ended on a high for the team as Julia earned a spot in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list of 2025. Everyone at ESAI was particularly ecstatic about the Founder being recognized as one of the most influential people under 30, as it meant their product did manage to make a significant impact on the market.
Announcing the same in December 2024, she took to Instagram and thanked her investors, supporters, and students, and exclaimed, “we’re just getting started.” In April 2025, she represented her innovative tool on a Live session with the Higher Ed Geek podcast from ASU+GSV. ESAI also bagged features on esteemed platforms such as Edtech Insiders, Forbes, Tech Crunch, Fox Business, and The Pitch. Not only does it provide assistance in reviewing their essays, but it also offers customized guidance in relation to the colleges or universities that align with their interests and goals. In addition to that, it also aids in finding appropriate scholarships and streamlining the requirements necessary for the tests.
Alongside the aforementioned tasks, the tool can do so much more. As of today, the AI-powered platform has served as a writing assistance and a quality enhancement tool for over 500,000 students. If you wish to be among them, you can sample a tool on their website for free. With the free version, you can use limited features such as Story Strategist, Major Mentor, Activity Planner, LOCI Tool, and Passion Project Picker. Meanwhile, the Pro version unlocks additional features like School Match Maker, Personal Statement, Topic Finder, Supplemental Essay Assistant, Outline Assistant, Conclusion Coach, Hook Helper, Essay Draft Editor, Scholarship Guide, Personal Stat Calculator, and Letter of Rec Request.
You can purchase the monthly subscription of the pro version for $49.99. However, if you upgrade to the yearly subscription today, you can do so at a discounted price of $249.99 (which is $20.99 per month, instead of $49.99). Meanwhile, a weekly subscription requires you to pay $14.99. The company also lets you apply for partnerships through their ESAI for All program. Taking the platform’s continued success into consideration, ESAI seems to be on the right track to fulfilling its mission to empower students with plans tailored to their needs for academic and career growth.
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