Village street in Vadakanchery, Kerala — the hometown that inspired the story behind Soar, LifeLaunchr's AI college planning assistant.

The Switch on the Wall: The Hard Part is Invisible

by | May 21, 2026

A student muttered “wow” under her breath. A Waldorf mom who doesn’t love AI called it “truly miraculous.” On designing Soar to be simple enough that the hard part disappears.

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AI in College Counseling, Artificial Intelligence, College Admissions, College Application, Freshman, Junior, Senior, Sophomore

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Venkates Swaminathan

Venkates Swaminathan

Venkates Swaminathan (Swami) is the founder and CEO of LifeLaunchr, the world's first virtual college admissions coaching platform, and a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling. Swami has been an executive in the education and technology industries for over 25 years. He has an M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois, and a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. He is the father of a child in college, and in his spare time, he is a jazz and Indian classical singer and pianist.

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