Over the past year, I’ve spent a lot of time exploring what it means to adapt.

Alongside researchers from the ETS Research Institute, together, we’ve spent months studying what it means to be adaptable in a world defined by constant change. What we’ve learned is that adaptability has taken on a new significance. The true power of adaptability isn’t to just keep up with a changing world. It’s to make sure the world doesn’t determine your future for you.

We often think of adaptability as a response to disruption. A skill we call upon when circumstances force us to change. But, in an increasingly dynamic world, I believe that adaptability becomes more than a response to change. It becomes a means of shaping our own future. Today, the skill of adaptability is what allows us to evolve with intention, to stay true to our values, and to continue building our future on our own terms.

This is true for both individuals and institutions.

Without question, the world around us is changing rapidly. AI is reshaping how people learn and work. The expectations from our customers are rising and workforce needs are evolving. New competitors are emerging, and the needs of learners, educators, employers, and governments continue to grow.

For organizations with a mission as enduring as ours, this changing landscape raises an important question:

For ETS, standing still has never been an option.

Our mission: To advance the science of measurement to power human progress, is bigger than one product, technology, or moment in time. It is rooted in a belief that measurement creates opportunities. And if the pathways to opportunity are changing, we have a responsibility to change alongside them.

Over the past several quarters, we’ve taken important steps to position ETS for the future. We’re investing in AI and emerging technologies. We’ve expanded through PSI and ACT. We’ve entered new markets, built new products, formed new partnerships, and launched new research initiatives focused on skills, policy and responsible AI.

Taken individually, these may appear to be separate initiatives. But they are not. They are part of a broader effort already underway to expand the way ETS creates value for all that we serve. An effort that is broadening our reach, strengthening our capabilities, and positioning our organization for the future.

We call this effort: ETS Next, because it is exactly that: our commitment to building what’s next for ETS.

ETS Next is a multi-year commitment to building a more modern, focused, and impactful ETS, grounded in the platforms, people, and partnerships that will shape our future. It is about strengthening how we work across every part of our organization, modernizing the platforms and capabilities that power our business, investing in the skills and talent of our people, deepening our partnerships and ensuring we can continue delivering the trusted measurement solutions our customers depend on. At the same time, we are reshaping the foundations of how ETS creates value, rethinking how we operate, where we compete, and how we create impact.

Most importantly, it is about increasingly our capacity to fulfill our mission.

This work is already taking shape, seen in the modernization of our assessment platforms. It is visible in the future opportunities being shaped by bringing together ETS and ACT, and in partnerships around the world. It’s also visible through our three new Research centers, where we’re refocusing our expertise on the questions that matter most to the future of education and work.

What connects these efforts is the belief that the strengths that have defined ETS for decades can be applied in new ways to meet the needs of a changing world.

We are building from a position of strength, fueled by our mission, our expertise, our relationships and our people. ETS Next is carrying those strengths forward into a new era, one that demands we continually rethink how we create opportunity and enable human progress. Every learner we have not yet reached is a reason to keep evolving, and so we will.

I have long believed in the incredible power of learning that is embodied in the mission of ETS. ETS Next is how we ensure that power reaches farther, matters more, and lasts through generations to come. As the world continues to evolve, so will we, not in response to change, but in service of the mission that guides us.

I’ll share more in the months ahead as this work progresses. There is a lot to be proud of in where we stand today, and even more to be excited about in what comes next.

-Amit