Udemy surpasses full year subscriber goal as it names Zane Vella as its new Head of Content, Instructor and Creator Strategy

Zane Vella

Skills platform Udemy has named ex Sessions College CEO Zane Vella as its new Head of Content, Instructor and Creator Strategy.

Udemy has also announced that it has already surpassed its 2025 goal for subscribers, with more than 250,000 paying subscribers ahead of the year-end. 

Udemy says during Q2 2025 its Business and Consumer subscriptions accounts for 70 percent of its total revenue. The company also shared plans to pilot programmatic advertising across free courses aimed at generating new revenue while supporting upsell into subscription products.

Writing on LinkedIn, Udemy’s President and CEO Hugo Sarrazin, said: “We've surpassed 250,000 paid Personal Plan subscribers, hitting our year-end goal months ahead of schedule. Our AI-powered approach to skills acceleration is resonating with professionals hungry for relevant, immediately applicable expertise.”

As well as his previous role as CEO at online digital media and design school Sessions College, Vella also brings experience from Comcast, where he served in roles including Vice President of Product and Technology. He also founded interactive video platform Watchwith, which was later acquired by Comcast.

“Zane brings a unique combination of learning expertise, creator ecosystem experience, and product innovation leadership that perfectly aligns with our vision,” Sarrazin comments. “His proven track record of building interactive platforms and scaling creator partnerships will be instrumental as we seek to further expand our marketplace, enhance content quality, and accelerate our subscription growth across consumer and enterprise businesses. We're thrilled to welcome him at this pivotal stage of our transformation.”

On LinkedIn, Sarrazin added: “As AI reshapes every industry, the demand for continuous upskilling has never been higher. Zane's proven track record in building scalable creator partnerships and interactive learning models positions us perfectly to meet this moment. He'll be instrumental as we evolve our marketplace into an AI-driven skills ecosystem that delivers high-impact content for professional growth and business success. “

“Udemy is exceptionally well-positioned to drive innovation across content and interactive learning formats on a global scale,” adds Vella. “The relationships we have with our more than 85,000 instructors are key to our vision for the future of learning and skills acceleration, which is both human and AI-powered. I am particularly excited to work with Udemy’s talented team to develop new creator partnerships that drive engagement and growth.”

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