The global marketplace for learning and teaching online, Udemy has appointed veteran technology leader Venu Venugopal as the company’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Venugopal was working with Expedia, where he was Vice President of Engineering for HomeAway, the world’s leading online marketplace for vacation homes.

Venugopal has also founded, architected, and led the development of Maya, the 3D-character animation and visual effects platform, which won an Oscar for technical contributions to the film industry. He has also led the development of Adobe Flash, the highly successful platform for delivering rich, engaging experiences across multiple devices. With a master’s degrees in Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Brunswick, Canada he has over the years contributed a lot to all the companies he has worked with and has developed some of the best of the technologies.

He now joins Udemy to help bolster the company’s global growth. “It’s an honor to join a mission-driven company like Udemy and lead such a talented team,” said Venugopal. “Knowing that the work we do directly impacts the lives of millions is both a privilege and a great responsibility. I’m excited to join the team and drive a new era of innovation and user experience.” 

The Udemy team is also thrilled to have Venugopal on board.

Gregg Coccari, CEO of Udemy shared, “As we remain committed to helping students, companies, and governments everywhere gain the skills they need to compete in today’s economy, we look forward to working with Venu to scale our business, continue to innovate on our platform, and deliver an even better experience to the millions who teach and learn on Udemy.”

In the past, Venugopal has driven innovation in a lot of companies and has been instrumental in creating new and innovative solutions. He is now expected to do the same for Udemy as the company now focuses on scaling up. The responsibility to lead the company towards its next phase of growth and make its learning platform the most unique in the market is now on Venugopal. Only time will tell if he is able to create a solution equivalent to Oscar-winning Maya for Udemy. 

Image credit: officessnapsshoots.com