WEBVTT - Udemy Banks on Artificial Intelligence to Power Online Learning

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and

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<v Speaker 2>tim Stenoveek on Bloomberg Radio. You might remember this Carol.

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<v Speaker 2>A few months ago, Luis van On, the founder and

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<v Speaker 2>CEO of Duelingo, he made some comments on a podcast

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<v Speaker 2>that got a lot of attention. He basically said, ultimately,

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<v Speaker 2>he's not sure if there's anything computers can't really teach you,

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<v Speaker 2>and that you know, teachers might not go away because

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<v Speaker 2>they need to provide childcare and take care of kids

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<v Speaker 2>in schools.

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<v Speaker 3>Do that.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, but that AI the way it's moving, that's going

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<v Speaker 2>to be teaching kids. Look, take it with a grain

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<v Speaker 2>of salt. Is kind of talking his book because he

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<v Speaker 2>has the app dual Lingo that uses AI to teach

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<v Speaker 2>people things. But right right, got a lot of attention,

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<v Speaker 2>as you can imagine.

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<v Speaker 1>Listen, If anything we learned in COVID though, the importance

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<v Speaker 1>of you know, kids being around other kids, around teachers

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<v Speaker 1>and people is socializing and socialization super super important.

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<v Speaker 2>Here's what Hugo Sarahsen thinks about all this. He's CEO

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<v Speaker 2>the online learning and teaching marketplace You to Me, the

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<v Speaker 2>company says it as eighty one million learners around the world.

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<v Speaker 2>It has had one hundred and twenty million course enrollments

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<v Speaker 2>in the last year. The stockdown about fourteen and a

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<v Speaker 2>half percent so far this year. It's got a market

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<v Speaker 2>cap just north of a billion dollars. He joins us

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<v Speaker 2>from Miami. Hugo, Welcome to the program. You guys are

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<v Speaker 2>in the midst of this pivot from a learning platform

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<v Speaker 2>to what you're calling a quote AI powered skills acceleration platform.

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<v Speaker 3>What's the differences, It's pretty pretty profound. First of all,

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<v Speaker 3>thank you for having me on the show. It's a

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<v Speaker 3>pleasure to be here. You to me. In its original

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<v Speaker 3>version ended up being the largest online platform on the

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<v Speaker 3>B two C. On the B to B side, we have,

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<v Speaker 3>as you said, on the learner eighty million plus, but

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<v Speaker 3>on the enterprise side, seventeen thousand enterprise are depending on

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<v Speaker 3>us to learn things from it to business skills, to

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<v Speaker 3>communication to you know, how to collaborate, so pretty broad.

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<v Speaker 3>At the same time, there's a limitation. This is a

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<v Speaker 3>distribution play that allows you to take learning in a

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<v Speaker 3>synchronous way. But with AI, we have the opportunity to

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<v Speaker 3>change the game and I think we're making a pretty

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<v Speaker 3>big pivot to continuous learning personalized learning. Let's say now

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<v Speaker 3>you and I take the same class. You may know

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<v Speaker 3>actually the first you know thirty percent, but we're going

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<v Speaker 3>to run through the same class today. But with AI,

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<v Speaker 3>I can learn and assess what you know and adapt

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<v Speaker 3>the course in a way that you know focuses on

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<v Speaker 3>the area where you need help. And then when you

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<v Speaker 3>take the class, I can also notice what issue you're

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<v Speaker 3>encountering and reinforce that through a lab through an AI

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<v Speaker 3>roleplay another war. So it's a pretty fundamental pivot to

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<v Speaker 3>the way we're going to deliver the reskilling of the

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<v Speaker 3>workforce moving.

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<v Speaker 1>Forward, Hugo, what are you learning from? I believe it's

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<v Speaker 1>about seventeen thousand enterprise customers. I was looking at a

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<v Speaker 1>recent press release from you guys that you have what

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<v Speaker 1>do you learn from them? Because part of what you

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<v Speaker 1>folks say is you are learning and you're taking in

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<v Speaker 1>data from those enterprise customers and what are you learning

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<v Speaker 1>and then what are you building on that knowledge?

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, we're spending a lot of time learning from our

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<v Speaker 3>customer our learning platform. We love to learn. I've been

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<v Speaker 3>in the role six months. I've met more than four

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<v Speaker 3>hundred executive so a lot of input. But if you

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<v Speaker 3>turn to the specific, I think right now this moment,

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<v Speaker 3>everybody's trying to determine what's the best way to embrace AI.

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<v Speaker 3>We have on our platform five times more classes being taken.

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<v Speaker 3>Every minute eight people enroll in AI classes, so we're

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<v Speaker 3>seeing the demand for that. At the same time, we're

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<v Speaker 3>seeing the need for adaptive skills, creative thinking, collaboration, communications.

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<v Speaker 3>That's up forty percent. So we're seeing like this duality

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<v Speaker 3>and I think it's very interesting to see that as

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<v Speaker 3>much as the technical skills are important, you know, enterprises

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<v Speaker 3>are looking for the human side and keep the human

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<v Speaker 3>aspect of moving forward.

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<v Speaker 2>How are your B to B sales right now? Carol

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<v Speaker 2>mentioned some stats right there, but I'm curious about the

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<v Speaker 2>environment that you see and what you're hearing from these

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<v Speaker 2>customers and potential customers.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, so's it's so we're sixty percent global, so it's

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<v Speaker 3>a mix of North American, Ama, Asia back. You know,

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<v Speaker 3>we are obviously continuing to grow now at the rate

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<v Speaker 3>that we were growing during the pandemic, where you know,

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<v Speaker 3>there was a very big discontinuity, but we're seeing some

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<v Speaker 3>robust growth. At the same time the uncertainty and the

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<v Speaker 3>to me, you know, there's a lot of you know,

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<v Speaker 3>wait and see. In some cases, people are investing in

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<v Speaker 3>technology and then are realizing that just the technology is

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<v Speaker 3>not enough, so there's a catch up in a rush

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<v Speaker 3>to bring in the reskilling. So it's a bit of

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<v Speaker 3>a you know, a mixed set of signals. But for

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<v Speaker 3>our business, we're lucky because we have something that is

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<v Speaker 3>going to be required. I mean, the World Economic Forum

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<v Speaker 3>in the next five years and ninety two million people

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<v Speaker 3>and developed countries will need to be reskilled for AI

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<v Speaker 3>and really well positioned for that well.

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<v Speaker 1>And it's interesting if I look at, you know, the

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<v Speaker 1>FA function on the Bloomberg, which really you know, pulls

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<v Speaker 1>up your balance sheet and just looking at revenue the

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<v Speaker 1>mix between consumer and enterprise. You go back to twenty

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen or twenty twenty, and it was largely consumer. But

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<v Speaker 1>the shift has been kind of dramatic, right in terms

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<v Speaker 1>of the percentage of revenues that is now enterprise. I

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<v Speaker 1>think our data shows something like sixty three percent of

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<v Speaker 1>what you guys do. That's the growth. That's the model

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<v Speaker 1>going forward.

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<v Speaker 3>It is, well, we're going to continue to be in

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<v Speaker 3>the consumer space. I think we've been making a very

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<v Speaker 3>profound shift towards the enterprise space. It is, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>we've got the leading platform in the market today. In

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<v Speaker 3>the consumer space, we do have a business that maybe

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<v Speaker 3>in the last few years we haven't invested sufficiently, and

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<v Speaker 3>then we're seeing some very interesting signals there too. I

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<v Speaker 3>think right now, as you know the job markets, the

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<v Speaker 3>new graduates are struggling to find jobs. They may not

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<v Speaker 3>have been prepared for what this economy is requiring, and

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<v Speaker 3>they turn to platforms like you to me to kind

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<v Speaker 3>of you know, a bit of a finishing school. They're

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<v Speaker 3>they're taking on a specific class to learn and they're

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<v Speaker 3>building their portfolio of projects. So we're seeing a bit

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<v Speaker 3>of a shift. But what we're going to do is

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<v Speaker 3>we're going to try to capture that shift. Instead of

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<v Speaker 3>vatrans actional course by course, we're now offering subscription and

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<v Speaker 3>we're trying to be a place where you can continuously

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<v Speaker 3>learn and evolve and set yourself career goals. And we're

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<v Speaker 3>partnering with Indeed and other firms to facilitate that.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey, you go just thirty seconds on this are using

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<v Speaker 2>AI to design the courses and actually do that content.

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<v Speaker 2>How do you do that?

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, So we internally, we have a learner team that

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<v Speaker 3>focuses on how to use AI to personalize the experience.

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<v Speaker 3>We have an instructor team that is finding ways to

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<v Speaker 3>automate and streamline the process so that you can create

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<v Speaker 3>a curriculum, you can create examples, you can generate images

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<v Speaker 3>if that's what you need it. So we're making all

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<v Speaker 3>of that super easy so that the instructor can spend

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<v Speaker 3>their time where they're applaying their critical thinking. They're finding analogies,

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<v Speaker 3>they're finding ways to engage the students in better way.

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<v Speaker 1>All Right, we're going to leave it there. Hey, Hugo,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you, really appreciate it. Have a good week again.

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<v Speaker 1>Hugo Sarazin. He's chief executive officer of the online learning

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<v Speaker 1>and teaching marketplace You to Me. Joining us from Miami,