Udemy founder Eren Bali returns to online skills marketplace and learning platform in CTO role

Udemy, an online skills marketplace and learning platform, reports that Eren Bali, who co-founded the company in 2010 and served as Chief Executive Officer until 2014, has returned as Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

Bali succeeds Venu Venugopal, who has served as Udemy’s CTO since May 2019.

He will report directly to President and CEO, Greg Brown, and will oversee Udemy’s engineering, data, and technical programme management teams.

In this role, Bali will work with 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,” says Brown.

“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 democratise access to quality education, making it truly accessible to everyone, everywhere, no matter their circumstance,” says Bali.

“Since then, the company has grown significantly to become a leading skills development and validation platform that enhances business outcomes for organisations 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 adds: “I also want to thank Venu for his leadership over the past five years. He built a world class engineering organisation, 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 endeavours.”

Most recently, Bali served as CEO at Carbon Health Technologies, a healthcare provider, which he co-founded in 2015. In addition, he is a Director on the private company boards of Carbon Health Technologies and Firefly Systems.