Dive Brief:

• Online learning platform Coursera named Alphabet alum Michael Foley to the role of interim finance chief and treasurer effective immediately, the company said Monday in a press release and securities filing. 
• The interim CFO appointment comes after the Mountain View, California-based company announced last month that its previous CFO, Ken Hahn, would be transitioning from his role to an advisory position, effective Oct. 29. Hahn, who served as the company’s CFO for five years and helped to shepherd the business through its initial public offering in 2021, will remain at Coursera as an advisor for 12 months. The company’s search for Hahn’s permanent successor is continuing, Coursera said Monday.
• The interim appointment comes at a “pivotal moment” for the learning platform “as technology and AI continue to reshape how the world learns and works,” Foley said in a post on LinkedIn. “With strong fundamentals and a solid financial foundation, I look forward to partnering with [CEO] Greg Hart and the leadership team to sharpen our strategic priorities and ensure we have the scale, agility, and operational rigor to deliver on the next phase of growth and impact,” he said. 

Dive Insight:

Foley, 52, currently serves as a venture advisor to New Enterprise Associates, according to his LinkedIn profile. His resume includes a two-year term as CEO for software development firm Branch, and experiences as head of finance, emerging hardware and services for Google, and as CFO for Unity Technologies. He began his career in audit roles at Big Four firms including PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young.

As part of the interim appointment, Foley will receive a monthly salary of $166,667, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He will also be eligible to receive a cash bonus of up to $200,000, “contingent upon satisfactory performance of certain key responsibilities,” according to the filing.

Foley is assuming the interim finance seat as the online learning platform continues to bet big on artificial intelligence under the leadership of Amazon veteran Greg Hart, who was appointed to the top executive seat and as president effective Feb. 3. With Hart taking the platform’s helm, Coursera has focused on expanding its consumer segment, which saw a 13% revenue boost year-over-year for its third quarter, according to its shareholder letter.

As part of its bid to foster growth, Coursera has announced partnerships with major generative AI companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, to launch AI-focused courses on the platform — now offering two courses that will help developers and business professionals to work with Anthropic’s AI chatbot, Claude, according to a Tuesday press release.

As well as the Anthropic deal, the company in October announced a partnership with OpenAI which enabled Coursera to be one of the first generations of apps now embedded in its ChatGPT service.

The company is continuing to focus on AI as a key part of its plans for growth, with Coursera looking to scale “more personalized, engaging, and AI-native learning and discovery experiences,” it said in its shareholder letter for its third quarter.

For its Q3, the company reported a 10% YoY bump in both revenue and gross profit, reporting profits of $106 million, according to its earnings report released Oct. 23. It also narrowed its net loss to $8.6 million in the quarter, compared to $13.7 million in the prior year period.

Coursera did not immediately respond to requests for comment.