Evolving from being online learning platform to AI-powered one: Udemy CEO

Udemy CEO Hugo Sarrazin about AI in learning, and how significant a market India is for the company

Hugo Sarrazin, chief executive officer of Nasdaq-listed skills development platform Udemy believes that artificial intelligence (AI) is bringing in a fundamental shift in the way online learning is delivered. In his first media interaction since he took over the role in March, he tells Shivani Shinde in Mumbai about AI in learning, and how significant a market India is for the company. Edited excerpts:

 

How is AI impacting online learning and how is it different compared to a few years ago? 

Online learning is a very interesting space. It was a great innovation 15 years ago — it changed access, allowed us to reach remote villages around the world, and created an economy for instructors. But it didn’t really change the modality — how people learn. At best, it was only as effective as a large classroom setting. What excites me now is that AI represents a turning point. With AI, we can finally change the learning modality. It allows us to personalise the learning experience, and that’s a massive opportunity.

 

How does AI impact Udemy? 

Udemy is a marketplace that brings together learners and creators. On the learner’s side, we’re evolving from being just an online learning platform to becoming an AI-powered reskilling and upskilling platform. That may sound like a small shift, but it represents a major transformation. We’re no longer just offering content — we’re building complete learning journeys with assessments, personalised learning paths, labs, videos, and even role plays. AI powers all of this. In fact, we have one of the largest AI-powered role play offerings in the industry. On the content creation side, AI has unlocked a wide range of tools — whether generating images, designing curricula, or translating content. We’re focused on simplifying the entire workflow for instructors, making it much easier for them to create high-quality content. 

 

What are some of the trends you are seeing from learners on Udemy?

 

Obviously, everybody wants to know how to use GenAI, prompt engineering and ChatGPT, but more importantly companies are asking us to create some basic AI fluency for everybody in organisations. We are having this conversation in India as well, where this AI is now going across the IT department. Second is tool-specific queries, like how one uses Excel with AI or Adobe and others. But surprisingly, there is also a whole category around softer skills. In the age of AI, how do I become a leader or what is my role as a leader?

 

How significant is India as a market for Udemy?

 

India is a very important market for us. We have about 17 million learners and 9,000 instructors here, and offer around 13,000 courses in Indian languages like Hindi, Tamil, Urdu, and more. Our offerings are tailored to local needs — both for individuals and large enterprises. India is a country that deeply values education. We see strong ownership of learning journeys, especially on the individual side. For example, we recently launched the ‘Career Accelerator’ programme, which helps learners take charge of their careers. There's a stronger signal from India than many other markets, largely due to this culture of learning. We're also seeing growing demand for skilling and upskilling —some of it coming from gaps in traditional university education, which often doesn’t cover fast-evolving, job-relevant skills. Since Udemy is a marketplace, we’re able to provide access to the latest, in-demand content, helping learners stay ahead. Interestingly, in India our corporate and individual users are equal.

 

How are you different compared to competitors?

 

Since we are a marketplace, what we offer is better. We are early to publish. Second differentiator is that we are becoming more than an online education company, or a reskilling company. Hence, the experience is more complete. Some of the others just give content. With Career Accelerators, we are personalising experience. Two, we are going to continue to localise. We have recently partnered with Mumbai Indians. We are looking for ways to create ties so that we can kind of talk to learners and people in a way that is adapted to their requirements. Three, we are going to recruit instructors, as we need to cover more Indian languages. We are well positioned to do that. The other area is partnerships with entities locally. That is another area we are looking at.