Udemy Strengthens Executive Team With Strategic Hires to Drive AI-Fueled Growth and Partnerships

Udemy Strengthens Leadership Team to Accelerate AI-Driven Growth

Udemy (Nasdaq: UDMY), a leading AI-powered skills development platform, has appointed three senior executives to its leadership team. These new hires aim to support Udemy’s shift to an AI-driven platform for reskilling and upskilling the workforce.

Hugo Sarrazin, President and CEO of Udemy, emphasized the strategic nature of these additions: “Sonya, Ann-Marie and Blaine bring deep experience from top-tier companies. Their expertise will help scale our AI-powered learning ecosystem and increase value for customers worldwide.”

Sonya Saunder: Chief of Staff and VP of Strategy & Operations

Sonya Saunder will lead Udemy’s corporate strategy and operations to drive sustainable growth. She partners with the executive team to develop long-term plans and ensures key initiatives are executed efficiently.

Saunder joins Udemy from Airbnb, where she directed growth strategies and built scalable systems. Her background also includes leadership roles at YouTube and Google, with a focus on strategy, operations, and international growth in markets like Japan and India.

Ann-Marie Darrough: VP of Global Partnerships

Ann-Marie Darrough takes charge of Udemy’s global partner strategy to expand revenue streams through content sales and platform fees. She will collaborate closely with Sales, Product, Marketing, and Customer Success to align go-to-market efforts worldwide.

Before Udemy, Darrough was VP of Alliances & Partnerships at Coveo, where she grew strategic partnerships with Independent Software Vendors, Global Systems Integrators, and Fortune 500 companies. Her extensive experience also includes leadership roles at Bloomreach and IBM.

Blaine Trainor: VP of Partner Ecosystems

Blaine Trainor will lead technology partnership strategy at Udemy, focusing on building an extensive ecosystem of integrations to drive platform adoption and revenue growth.

Trainor’s previous roles include VP of Partnerships at Zowie and Global VP of Partnerships and Alliances at commercetools. He also held senior positions at SAP and IBM, where he developed expertise in enterprise sales and partnership management.

About Udemy

Udemy is an AI-driven skills development platform that helps organizations and individuals build critical capabilities for today’s workplace. The platform combines on-demand content with real-time innovations to deliver personalized learning experiences.

Thousands of companies, including Ericsson, Glassdoor, On24, The World Bank, and Volkswagen, rely on Udemy Business to create agile and future-ready teams. Udemy’s headquarters are in San Francisco with hubs across the United States, Australia, India, Ireland, Mexico, and Türkiye.