About Us
Udacity is where lifelong learners come to learn the skills they need, to land the jobs they want, to build the lives they deserve.
Our Mission
Our mission is to train the world’s workforce in the careers of the future. We partner with leading technology companies to learn how technology is transforming industries, and teach the critical tech skills that companies are looking for in their workforce. With our powerful and flexible digital education platform, even the busiest learners can prepare themselves to take on the most in-demand tech roles.
Our Students
Udacity students are a community of global learners united in a shared goal of uplift and transformation. Our unique learning model enables an unprecedented degree of engagement with our students, and we are with them through every step of their learning journey—from the first moment a marketing team member might answer a question on Facebook, to the penultimate moment when a career team member receives word that a graduate has gotten a new job. Our mantra is Students First, and this is the light that guides us as we continue our mission to bring the highest quality learning possible, to as many students as we can possibly reach.
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Our Story
Udacity began as an experiment in online learning, when Stanford instructors Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig elected to offer their "Introduction to Artificial Intelligence" course online to anyone, for free. Over 160,000 students in more than 190 countries enrolled. The potential to educate at a global scale was awe-inspiring, and Udacity was founded to pursue a mission to democratize education. It would take several years of intensive iteration and experimentation to clarify our focus on career advancement through mastery of in-demand skills, but today, Udacity proudly offers aspiring learners across the globe the opportunity to participate in—and contribute to—some of the most exciting and innovative fields in the world.
Meet our leadership team
Our talented team of executives have come together with one goal: to help students, companies, and governments prepare for the next generation of technical jobs.
Sebastian Thrun
Founder and Executive Chairman
Seamus Hennessy
Chief Financial Officer
York Poon
Chief Product Officer
James Richards
Chief Technology Officer
Kenny Kim
Chief Marketing Officer
Dana Bennett
Chief People Officer
Blake Tablak
Senior VP, Global Enterprise
Jennifer Dearman
Senior VP, Global Customer Success and Operations
Hisham Elaraby
VP, Corporate Development