Udemy Founder Eren Bali Returns as Chief Technology Officer

Learning and DevelopmentHR TechnologyNews

By Business Wire On Aug 16, 2024

Appointment of co-founder and longtime board member as CTO reflects Udemy’s commitment to accelerating the company’s product strategy, leading the evolution of learning with AI, and delivering innovation and value to all customers

Udemy, a leading online skills marketplace and learning platform, today announced 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. Venugopal will continue serving in an advisory capacity to ensure a seamless transition.

Bali will report directly to Udemy’s President and CEO, Greg Brown, and will oversee Udemy’s engineering, data, and technical program management teams. In this role, Bali will work closely with Udemy’s Chief Product Officer, Prasad Raje, to accelerate 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.

“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,” said Greg Brown, Udemy’s President and CEO. “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.”

“We founded Udemy in 2010 to democratize access to quality education, making it truly accessible to everyone, everywhere, no matter their circumstance,” said Bali. “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.”

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.”

Most recently, Bali served as CEO of Carbon Health Technologies, a technology-enabled healthcare provider, which he co-founded in 2015. In addition, he serves as a director on the private company boards of Carbon Health Technologies and Firefly Systems. Bali received a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and mathematics from Middle East Technical University, in Ankara, Türkiye.

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