Eren Bali, Udemy Co-Founder and former CEO, rejoins the company as Chief Technology Officer.
Takeaway Points
- Eren Bali, Udemy Co-Founder and former CEO, rejoins the company as Chief Technology Officer.
- Which will take effect August 12, 2024.
- Bali will report directly to Udemy’s president and CEO, Greg Brown.
Udemy, a leading online skills marketplace and learning platform, said on Friday that Eren Bali, who co-founded Udemy in 2010 and served as the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) until 2014, has returned as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), effective August 12, 2024. Bali succeeds Venu Venugopal, who has served as Udemy’s CTO since May 2019 while Venugopal will continue serving in an advisory capacity to ensure a seamless transition.
The learning platform said that Bali will report directly to Udemy’s President and CEO, Greg Brown, and will oversee Udemy’s engineering, data, and technical program management teams. Bali will work closely with Udemy’s Chief Product Officer, Prasad Raje, to increase Udemy’s product strategy, bolster growth across the enterprise business, and bring additional innovations to Udemy’s direct-to-consumer offerings. Upon starting his role as CTO, Bali stepped down from Udemy’s Board of Directors.
Greg Brown, Udemy’s President and CEO, said in a comment, “As a founder, CEO, and longtime board member who is a proven, growth-oriented, strategic and operational leader, Eren has been instrumental in building Udemy from day one to become the business it is today. We are extremely pleased to have Eren as part of our management team, bringing his extensive background in successful new product launches, geographic market expansions, and building high-performing teams—all underpinned by his deep familiarity with our operations and passion for our mission. We look forward to Eren’s contributions to advancing our product strategy and delivering innovation and value to our customers around the world.”
Eren Bali, said he is happy to return and work with his colleagues like Greg, Praed, and others.
“We founded Udemy in 2010 to democratize access to quality education, making it truly accessible to everyone, everywhere, no matter their circumstance. Since then, the company has grown significantly to become a leading skills development and validation platform that enhances business outcomes for organizations and supports individuals in achieving their career goals. In addition, advancements in generative AI unlock new opportunities for us to redefine the way people develop skills that were not possible when we launched the company. For those reasons, I could not be more excited for the opportunity to return to Udemy in an operating capacity, working closely with Greg, Prasad, and the rest of the executive leadership team to accelerate a culture of continuous innovation and take our vision for Udemy to new heights,” Bali said.
Brown concluded, “I also want to thank Venu for his leadership over the past five years. He built a world-class engineering organization, successfully scaled our consumer marketplace, and contributed significantly to the growth of Udemy Business. We are grateful for his unwavering commitment to Udemy and wish him well on his future endeavors.”
About Udemy
Udemy (Nasdaq: UDMY) is a leading online skills marketplace and learning platform that transforms lives through learning by ensuring everyone has access to the latest and most relevant skills. Through the Udemy Intelligent Skills Platform and a global community of diverse and knowledgeable instructors, millions of learners gain expertise in a wide range of technical and professional skills — from generative AI to leadership. The Udemy marketplace provides learners with thousands of up-to-date courses in dozens of languages, offering a variety of solutions to achieve their goals. Udemy Business empowers enterprises to offer on-demand learning for all employees, immersive learning for tech teams through Udemy Business Pro, and cohort learning for leaders through Udemy Business Leadership Academy. Udemy Business customers include FenderⓇ, Glassdoor, On24, The World Bank and Volkswagen. Udemy is headquartered in San Francisco with hubs in Austin and Denver, USA; Ankara and Istanbul, Türkiye; Dublin, Ireland; Melbourne, Australia; and Chennai, Gurugram, and Mumbai, India.
