✨ Announcing the Launch of the Udemy Innovation Studio: "AI for Business Leaders". ✨
Dear Instructors,
We are excited to announce the launch of the Udemy Innovation Studio, a new initiative that embodies our commitment to visionary and bold innovation. The Udemy Innovation Studio will serve as an incubator for new learning experiences, where we will experiment, prototype, and take bold risks to push the boundaries of online education.
Our first release, "AI for Business Leaders", is a cutting-edge introductory course designed to empower learners for the future of work. This course exemplifies the breadth and depth of content available on our platform, helping learners upskill and succeed in a rapidly changing world. We aim to be at the forefront of new, cutting-edge tools and formats, such as AI and VR, and we are dedicated to putting these resources in the hands of our vibrant Instructor community.
You can find out more info here.
Thank you for your continued support and for being a part of this exciting journey with us.
Teach on,
Ryan
Comments
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I love it!
Let's go!
💪😁🤜💥
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Nice!
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This looks interesting and promising - like an R&D lab within Udemy.
There is a bit of a paradox there though. On your website this is what you say: "The pressure to lead through change, understand AI, and develop stronger communication skills is more intense than ever. Skills gaps need to be filled — and fast."
Skills such as leadership and communication are what you sometimes call "soft skills". They are "people" skills. Social sciences, basically. In my humble view, we will need these skills more than ever in the age of AI.
And yet the entire drive of modern Udemy seems to be to emphasise technology, automation, and AI curriculum.
Am I wrong?
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Yes, I agree Scott. I can't access that post, but have heard exactly the same comments from Instructors.
It surprises me that Udemy did not see that concern coming, and provide some reassuring communication around it.
I remain of the long held view that "consultation" with instructors has proven itself to be insufficient. Udemy needs a senior instructor on staff, on payroll, inside the company, someone that understands the unique perspective of the instructors, and can ensure those perspectives are at the table, during the discussions, and during formulation of strategy, policy, and communications, as they happen.
It surprises me that after so many years, and so many suggestions along these lines, including by a senior group of instructors directly to the previous CEO, no action on this has been taken.
I have no other way to provide this hopefully constructive input to Udemy now, so provide it here. I hope senior executives are listening.
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@ScottDuffy My understanding was that the primary idea behind the Innovation Studio was to test new tools for instructors, before they are rolled out.
But looking at the website again, pretty much all Udemy does here is promote their own course: "AI for Business Leaders". At the moment it costs £69.99 and I can enrol free with a Free Trial Personal Plan.
So right now, this is what the Innovation Studio boils down to: a Udemy-created professional course competing with instructors' own courses.
@RyanJaress Are we missing something here?
Was the purpose of your announcement to advertise this Udemy-made course to instructors? I am just trying to understand it better.
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I’m honestly horrified, yet again, by how disconnected Udemy’s management seems from its instructors. And even when they do listen, they deliberately choose not to act on the feedback. Why? I’ve tried to make sense of it, but I just can’t find a justifiable reason.
Some have commented that “the studio will test new tech.” What tech? It’s a traditional extremely expensive recording studio. Dragging in a camera crew to film standard courses isn’t innovation. By definition, innovation means doing things better, faster, smoother. This isn’t that. It’s just more polished competition, produced with money taken from instructors’ revenue share.
Ask yourself: if Udemy is spending hundreds of thousands to produce these, will they spend marketing dollars to promote your course or theirs? Rationally, of course they’ll push their own so they can justify the spend to investors.What’s “new” about re-recording a course on a topic that already exists on the marketplace and UB with the same title? Will Udemy push these versions to UB clients instead of ours? It may not happen tomorrow, but how is it not inevitable?
Roleplay features show some promise, sure. But almost every other announcement has been underwhelming or worse, concerning. It’s added more stress and anxiety than excitement. And judging by the eerie silence in the community space, I know I’m not the only one feeling this way. If Udemy leadership truly cared, they’d be here too. But they’re not.
This is really sad.5 -
@EvrimKanbur The more I think about it, the more it makes sense.
It might be a dark and cynical interpretation but the whole notion of testing new tech and tools does sound disingenuous if all we see is a very traditional course recorded in a traditional studio just with expensive equipment and post-production.
If it was about testing inew stuff, instructors would be at the centre of this. But there doesn't seem to be nothing to test there. It's a recording studio with lights, camera and an instructor.
What doesn't help is the lack of communication from Udemy.
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I already informed that days are not far when AI would be teaching….exciting to see what it means for instructors?
how can we stay ahead of the curve?
Differentiate our courses from AI courses?
Or can Udemy help us to integrate AI in our courses? Role Play is one but really the UI sucks!!
Tech is evolving fast and AI is at forefront. Learning space cannot remain untouched because of these technological changes.
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They already have a platform to test anything and everything related to AI which is where innovation truly happens. So, going back to traditional studio recordings feels less like experimentation and more like a shift in the business model.
But again, what kind of technology are we "testing" in an expensive recording studio? Better lighting? Camera angles? Hiring more production staff? Featuring outsider opinion leaders while we, the instructors, are still waiting to hear something truly groundbreaking that would improve our workflow and make this a real win-win? This feels less like innovation and more like a potential move that could shrink instructor earnings.
Testing new technology should be happening on the platform itself, not in a studio. So unless this signals a pivot in Udemy’s business model, I’m struggling to understand the purpose behind this investment. A giant studio to maybe test "robots"?
I'm not trying to be Negative Nancy here, but I’m also not going to be Pollyanna about what this could mean in the long run. I’ve been working hard to create even more value for my students, but with announcements like this, it feels like no matter how hard or smart we work, there’s a ceiling being quietly installed. If Udemy’s own studio-recorded courses end up getting prioritized in Udemy Business or in platform search rankings, it won’t just undermine my efforts, it will affect everyone.
I genuinely hope I’m wrong. But the writing is on the wall, and I’m honestly stunned that the team didn’t anticipate the level of concern this would raise among instructors. I’m not in the Instructor Partner community, so maybe there’s some insight being shared there but was this studio even something instructors asked for? Why did this become such a high priority, while so many other meaningful platform improvements are still pending?
The vibe in the instructor community has been shifting for a while, and this announcement only intensifies that disconnect. Either I’m missing something, or we’re heading toward a model where we end up having to compete with Udemy’s own professionally recorded courses. Is that the direction we’re going?
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@RyanJaress I realise this initiative has nothing to do with you but since you introduced it to us, would you be able to dispel the concerns raised here? If you don't know the answer, would you be able to reach out to Udemy to clarify?
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Hey instructors,
We’d like to offer some clarity and context regarding the Udemy Innovation Studio and address your questions about this new initiative.
The Udemy Innovation Studio is not about creating content at scale, but rather focuses on introducing alternative forms of learning modalities beyond traditional courses. Our primary goal is to explore and experiment with multi-modal learning techniques combined with hyper-personalized learning, leveraging the power of AI.
Importantly, the insights and outputs of these experiments will be shared with the entire instructor community. We aim to equip you with valuable tools, ideas, and inspiration to refine your teaching strategies, grow your personal brand, and reach a broader audience. By sharing these resources, we hope to empower you to enhance the quality and reach of your educational offerings.
We deeply value the diversity, talent, and creativity of our instructor community. It is your unique expertise that sets Udemy apart, and we are fully committed to supporting you. This includes sustained investments in tools, features, and resources to enhance your experience. Simultaneously, we remain dedicated to maintaining transparency and upholding responsible AI practices, as outlined in our Instructor Gen AI Policy.
Our mission is to ensure Udemy continues to be the thriving platform where your efforts can truly make a difference. Thank you for your passion, expertise, and the unparalleled learning experiences you provide to students worldwide.
Teach On,
Ryan
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@RyanJaress That sounds very good. I am sure that we instructors will welcome any "innovations" that can enhance our teaching and, as important, our marketing of our courses. The first course that you have announced, is there an innovation represented or employed in that course? Given the purpose you articulated I would hope that the courses that Udemy is developing and promoting will display some innovation. I only watched the preview lectures (no I am not paying $69) but it seems to be pretty traditional in format and method. Am I missing something?
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Ryan, thanks for the explanation.
I have to admit, I’m still confused, maybe it’s the overload of buzzwords like “multi-modal learning techniques,” “hyper-personalized learning,” and “alternative modalities”. These terms sound impressive, but they feel vague and non-specific right now. Is it just me thinking this?I noticed this course already has over 1,000 students in less that 24 hours, likely due to Udemy’s promotion.
Could you clarify:
- How is this new course any different from the one with the same title already created by two Udemy instructors?
- What specific technologies or innovations are being used in this 1-hour course that justify the label of “Innovation Studio”?
- Is it tagged or categorized differently from other courses?
- Will it be included in the UB?
- Will it be prioritized in search results or course recommendations?
Some concrete details would really help instructors understand what this innovation means for us.
Thanks in advance.
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@EvrimKanbur it is not just you. As someone who is from Europe and never worked in a corporation, I really struggle decoding corporate buzzwords. They all seem so meaningless.
@RyanJaress would you please be so kind and answer the questions above, but please do try to use every-day, human language. We are not on a corporate earnings call here, we are trying to build a community with you guys.
Please try to understand that these are important and justified concerns that we have.
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@LawrenceMMiller I have the Udemy Personal Plan, so I gave the course a quick look. I wouldn't consider it innovative from a teaching perspective, but instead a highly polished and professionally designed mini-course, where you can tell it was created in a high-end studio with lighting, audio, video engineers, and editors.
The instructor covers ChatGPT and Claude GenAI fundamentals and features, without going into too much detail using the same modalities most instructors use (talking head, presentation, and screencast live demos). I feel that the production value is what makes the course stand out more than anything else. And I can see how it (and future Innovation Studio courses) would be geared toward UB customers, where it's short, too the point, professionally developed, and targeted towards business executives.
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Hi @RyanJaress , can I provide some hopefully helpful advice, and hope you will pass it on to the executive team?
The tagline for Udemy should be "Better than AI!"
Last year I wrote an entire paper titled The Human Biological Advantage Over AI. It broadly makes the case that humans have capabilities that AI will never have, primarily in the emotional realm.
But this applies to education as well. ChatGPT has mixed together the whole of human knowledge on the Internet. That is general. It can produce complete and comprehensive answers. But the best advice and education is not comprehensive, it is specific. Targeted. Just the essential and most important. And with extremely great value for the time it takes.
Only human beings can do this. And only the very best domain experts, when unusually combined with educational abilities, can produce this kind of unusually good educational content. This has always been Udemy's edge: better than Youtube or ChatGPT.
And frankly, and with love, I suggest that to preserve it, Udemy should be doing a much better job valuing and communicating with their instructor community than they have in the last two years. I suggest the deterioration in Net Dollar Retention (NDR) is directly related to the deterioration in instructor passion - it is all one thread.
I also again suggest that "consultation" with instructors has proven itself, again and again, to be insufficient. Udemy needs a senior instructor on staff, on payroll, inside the company, someone that understands the unique perspective of the instructors, and can ensure those perspectives are at the table, during the discussions, and during formulation of strategy, policy, and communications, as they happen. A senior group of instructors made this suggestion in direct talks with the former CEO, to no avail. I would hope the new leadership would reconsider it. Such a position would have, at the very least, hugely improved the communication around this innovation lab. And they could help drive a great deal of additional core value.
"Udemy - better than ChatGPT"
With respect,
William
References
—————1. Udemy Executives: The Animal Spirit Cost Of The Revenue Reduction - Nov 2023
2. Udemy Executives: Internal Strategy Contradiction & Measurement Check - Feb 2024 - "The clearest way to measure if this analysis is valid is with customer retention metrics. If there is a decline in renewals over time, please at least consider this input."
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First, Udemy allowed instructors to use AI (text-to-speech) in courses because the company wanted to test how well it worked for students.
Then, they reduced our shared revenue from Udemy Business, which seemed like they just wanted to discourage us.
Now, they’ve introduced this tool, and it feels like they want to show us that Udemy can do better than instructors.
In the future, I worry that Udemy might remove us from the platform and replace us with AI instructors.
Sorry for the negative thoughts — I really hope I’m wrong.
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I'm coming in rather late to this discussion, but want to address some of the points raised by @Kamil around soft / people skills and the whole topic of going beyond AI.
A couple of years ago, because of Udemy's obsession with AI, I recognised the opportunity to develop a course around emotional intelligence and artificial intelligence. My specialism is emotional intelligence and so it was a logical move.
My course Emotional Intelligence vs AI: Bridging the Workplace Gap was launched towards the end of 2023. It has performed adequately well.On many occasions, I have had discussions with senior management at Udemy around this subject. As @EvrimKanbur has mentioned, their capacity to listen to instructors is rather limited at times. Sometimes I feel that I would get a better response from next door's cat!
Last month I was invited to run a webinar for Udemy Business with another instructor @ScottHarris on The Human Element: Developing Essential Soft Skills in the Age of AI. The webinar was a huge success, with over 4,500 registrants and 1,000 live attendees. In planning this webinar with Udemy, I mentioned my course which came as a big surprised to the organisers.The main learning from this is that there is lots of excitement and activity from Udemy around AI with loads of initiatives spinning off in every direction, but there is little leadership and co-ordination. Go with it, enjoy it, work within your values, keep within Udemy's Terms and Conditions and Safey Policies to work with any opportunity that comes your way but don't expect Udemy to pick up on or understand what you are doing.
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Thank you for sharing this, @RobinHills, and congratulations on your webinar success!
Very interesting insights.
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@RyanJaress Your announcement is confusing.
First, you said the part about "Udemy Innovation Studio," implying it's an internal effort.
Then you said, "Our first release, "AI for Business Leaders", is a cutting-edge introductory course."
How is a Udemy-created course an internal effort to improve the AI offerings for instructors? Looks like you just created competition?
This is exactly the point @Kamil was making, as well as most everyone after that.
Can you please explain this "Udemy Innovation Studio" better? Right now, with the wording of this announcement, it's unclear, and it's coming off as a promotion of a Udemy-created course, which has nothing to do with developing AI-enhanced tools.
Thanks0
