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 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.
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.
Android Developer
"Udacity has had an instrumental impact on my career. Without the Android Nanodegree credential, I would not have managed to get this far."
Data Scientist
" "I learned essential tools and obtained crucial experience through completing projects. This built my portfolio and helped me attract recruiters."
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.
Our corporate customers look to Udacity to equip their employees with vital skills in data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and autonomous systems that companies need to compete in the digital economy.
Gabe Dalporto is Chief Executive Officer at Udacity. Prior to joining Udacity he worked at LendingTree, where he held several leadership roles, including Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer.
During his time at LendingTree, he was instrumental in driving the company’s transition from a microcap, mortgage-focused marketplace to a multi-billion dollar, fully diversified financial services marketplace. During his tenure, LendingTree delivered a remarkable 6745% stock price appreciation, one of the highest of any publicly traded company. Dalporto joined the LendingTree Board in 2017 and continues to be an active board member there, and he is also a board member of Guitar Center.
Gabe holds a Bachelor’s degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Florida and a Master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering from MIT.
Sebastian Thrun is a scientist, educator, inventor, and entrepreneur. As the Founder and Chairman of Udacity, Sebastian’s mission is to democratize education by providing lifelong learning to millions of students worldwide. He is also the founder of Google X, where he led projects including the Self-Driving Car, Google Glass, and more. Previously, he led the Stanford Racing Team whose robot “Stanley” won the DARPA Grand Challenge.
Sebastian has been named the 5th Most Creative Person in Business (Fast Company), among the 50 Smartest People in Tech (Fortune), and highlighted in 50 Best Inventions of 2010 (Time). He is the first recipient of the inaugural Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for Education, and is also featured in the recent film Lo & Behold: Reveries of the Connected World by award-winning writer and director Werner Herzog.
Seamus is the Chief Financial Officer for Udacity. Prior to Udacity, he was the CFO at a number of technology companies including wireless network infrastructure category leader, Ruckus Wireless.
Seamus has more than 20 years of financial management experience at both public and private technology companies. In his eight years as CFO of Ruckus Wireless he led them from early-stage startup in 2009, through a successful IPO in 2012, and sale to Brocade Communications Systems in 2016. He has also served in CFO roles at Big Switch Networks, Cohesity, Aerohive Networks and Bubble Motion, as well as VP of Finance at NetScaler.
His experience includes strategic planning, financial planning and analysis, investor relations, corporate finance, and treasury. Seamus holds a Bachelor of Business Studies from the University of Limerick, Ireland.
Alper Tekin is the Chief Product Officer at Udacity. He was Udacity’s first international hire, founded the company’s EMEA presence as the Regional Director of EMEA, and later founded Udacity Enterprise, Udacity's B2B division targeting business customers. Prior to joining Udacity in 2015, Alper was a serial entrepreneur in Europe, acting as founder & CEO of several startups, including AlfaPeople, Mekanist.net, and BlaBlaCar TR.
Alper began his career at Microsoft, where he worked on the Microsoft Partner Program Team in charge of managing the channels that deliver 95% of Microsoft’s revenues.
He holds a B.S. and M.S. degree in Engineering from Stanford University.
James Richards is the Chief Technology Officer at Udacity. Prior to joining Udacity he worked at Nest Labs, leading server-side development teams.
During his time at Nest, he oversaw the release of several versions of the thermostat, smoke detector, and security camera focusing on the interaction model of these IoT devices. James also was an early engineer and leader at LinkedIn. Over his eight years he built and lead teams helping LinkedIn scale to hundreds of millions of users and thousands of employees.
Kenny Kim is the Chief Marketing Officer at Udacity. Prior to joining Udacity, he was the Global Head of Marketing at Google Shopping where he oversaw performance marketing and advertising for Google Shopping’s consumer business.
In addition to Google Shopping, Kenny led marketing at both NatureBox and SquareTrade. He also held marketing leadership roles at other high-growth startups, such as Trulia and Hotwire, as well as more established brands like American Express and Ticketmaster. Kenny’s vast marketing experience spans both B2B and B2C businesses.
Kenny holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Blake Tablak is the Senior Vice President of Global Enterprise at Udacity. Prior to joining Udacity, Blake led North American enterprise sales at Workiva (NYSE: WK), where he doubled revenue in two and a half years.
In addition to Workiva, Blake led worldwide sales at Topia, a high growth venture-backed start-up. Over the past 20+ years, he has also served in go-to-market leadership roles at Khoros (formerly known as Lithium), BMC Software, and Nextron.
Grace Rhee is the VP of People at Udacity, overseeing our growth and success from a people standpoint. Prior to joining Udacity, Grace was at Facebook in various leadership positions in HR and Recruiting, helping scale several business functions globally. She also led global recruiting at Stripe, and at McKinsey & Company, where she began as a management consultant in the Healthcare practice on the West Coast.
Grace is passionate about enabling people's success and fulfillment in their careers. Helping people navigate career transitions is a core passion as she started her career in life sciences and healthcare before moving into a career in People. She is an avid learner and global traveler, and holds various degrees from the University of Michigan (B.S., M.S.) and Stanford University (Ph.D.).
Hisham or Hitman Elaraby is the Vice President of Udacity for Government. He leads the company’s efforts to partner with governments around the world to build national tech-upskilling programs.
Prior to joining Udacity, Hisham worked at Google as the Industry Head of Automotive and Mobile in the Middle East & North Africa region, leading the execution of Google’s largest ecosystem investment in the region. This initiative was an effort to certify and provide economic opportunities for 2,000 developers. It was through this experience Hisham realized his passion for powering careers through tech education.
Hisham or Hitman has a background in consulting with McKinsey & Company. Prior to that, he obtained his MBA from INSEAD and his undergraduate degree in Economics from the American University in Cairo.