Making learning addictive is only half the job

Almost a decade ago, I gave a TED Talk where I argued that we could make learning as addictive as a video game. I was fascinated by the idea of dopamine loops—the cycle of challenge, achievement, and reward that keeps us hooked. I believed that if we could just bottle that magic and apply it to education, we could unlock human potential on a massive scale.

A few years later, I rewatched that talk, and while the core idea still excites me, I came to realize I only had it half right.

Making learning a fun, daily habit is a critical step. But an addiction to learning that doesn’t lead anywhere is like eating empty calories. The dopamine rush from earning points or leveling up in an app is fleeting. The real, lasting motivation, the kind that gets you through the hard parts of deliberate practice, comes from something more tangible. It comes from the belief that your effort will have a real-world payday: a promotion, a career change, or that first life-changing job.

Why We Put a Space Corgi in Your Pocket

Our job is to make learning directly applicable. You don’t learn to ride a bike by watching a video, just like you don’t become a better salesperson by just reading about discovery calls, a better product manager by skimming frameworks, or a stronger analyst by watching spreadsheet tutorials. You learn by doing.

We launched CodeSignal Learn with a simple but powerful philosophy: the best way to build skills is through hands-on, practice-based experiences that mirror the real work. It’s why our courses are 90% practice and 10% instruction, not the other way around.

But we knew we could do more to make this kind of deep, practical learning a part of your daily life.

That’s why we’re bringing our proven learning platform to your pocket with Cosmo, our new mobile app. We’ve taken the power of our practice-first, mastery-based engine and made it accessible on-the-go.

With Cosmo, you don’t just read about sales techniques; you practice handling an objection. You don’t just watch a video on data analysis; you write the actual SQL query to pull the insights. You don’t just hear about marketing theory; you draft the go-to-market hook and get instant feedback.

This isn’t about gamification for its own sake. It’s about closing the gap between knowing and doing. Every bite-sized exercise is designed to build a practical skill that employers are actively hiring for, backed by data from the millions of assessments we run every year. When you complete a path, you get a shareable certificate that represents a real, demonstrable skill you can put on your LinkedIn profile.

Why Now?

The world of work is changing faster than ever. Generative AI is creating and disrupting roles in a matter of months, impacting marketers, financial analysts, and recruiters just as much as engineers. The skills required for success are in constant flux. We need a tool that makes building in-demand skills not just possible, but a seamless part of our daily routine.

Cosmo is our answer. It’s where the addictive, habit-forming nature of mobile learning finally meets the real-world ROI of practical application. It’s a tool to help you master what matters, fast—from AI prompt engineering and data analysis to sales enablement and effective leadership.

A Personal Invitation

My own journey, from a kid who discovered a passion for math through competitions, not classrooms, taught me that learning is most powerful when it’s active and has a clear goal. If you’ve ever sat through a course, tapped through an app, or watched a video and wondered, “But how will I actually use this?”, Cosmo is for you.

Let’s complete the job together. Let’s make learning not just addictive, but transformative.

— Tigran

Tigran Sloyan

CodeSignal

Maker

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