So this is just the beginning. And one of the things we’re probably most excited about now that we have the ability to leverage is the data that we get from 69 million learners on the platform, over across 220,000 courses, that gives us the ability to feed that data into our LLM, and then be able to produce insights back to our customers about the most valuable resource, which is their people, that is going to enable them to transform how they run their businesses and leverage those valuable resources. So we’re at the front end of this. We’re making some big investments right now. We’re already starting to see these investments start to have an impact, and we’ll be talking more about this as the year progresses.
Operator: The next question is from Curtis Nagle with Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Curtis Nagle: Thanks very much for taking the question. One, maybe just more of a clarification in terms of, I guess, the pullback or decision not to invest more in marketing to stabilize the consumer revenues. It sounds like the return hurdles aren’t quite, I guess, they’re too high to justify the investment. Is that the case? Or anything else you’d, I guess, elaborate on?
Sarah Blanchard: Yes. Really what we’re looking for before we start to invest more than we are currently from a marketing perspective behind consumer is getting some of the functionality that we’re launching on UB first on the consumer platform such that the LTVs of those learners make sense. And so for us, it’s all about balancing where you’re investing, balancing growth and profitability. UB Business is the growth engine of our business. And so we’re focused our investments there first. But we will be putting some of those capabilities like badging and certifications onto the consumer platform and then making some decisions about how we invest behind that.
Curtis Nagle: Okay. And then just one on UB in terms of the accelerating revenue for AR. It sounds like that’s a 2H event. I guess aside from maybe a clear emaco and maybe more importantly, new product rollout, what are the catalysts and what really gives you the confidence to say that you think that’s going to happen from this point right now?
Greg Brown: Yes, it’s a good question. Thanks. It’s in terms of the forward look or the look forward as far as UB and our confidence with respect to the AR growth and expansion in the back half of the year really comes down to three primary areas. The international expansion that we’re leaning into and investing in is a massive opportunity for us based on the brand awareness we have in countries like India and Brazil and the lead bowling pins that we’ve already knocked down in these markets to give us a lot of confidence that we can run the table with the right investments and the right programmatic approach. Second is the leverage that we believe we will get through the investments we’re making in strategic partnerships with the likes of AWS, ServiceNow, Docker, and many others that we’re engaged with.
There’ll be more to come as we start to progress throughout the year, but we absolutely believe that we’re going to see material leverage from these partnerships. Then finally, it’s brand and product investments. We’ve talked quite a bit about the product investments already. We’re making equally important investments in brand. Those AI-related product investments, of which I just highlighted, really are going to transform learning in organizations. Again, we’re at the front end of this, and so we’re making some big bets. Those bets are well-placed, and we expect those bets to start to materialize in the back half of the year, which gives us a lot of confidence that AR growth will happen.
Operator: Next question is from Ryan MacDonald with Needham & Company. Please go ahead.
Ryan MacDonald: All right. Thanks for taking my questions. Maybe first, starting on the investments, Greg, can you help me understand the investment in brand? Obviously, Udemy, a very large marketplace, millions of learners coming per month to the platform. You’ve had a pretty good B2B business in terms of gaining share. Help me understand where you feel like you need to invest incrementally to build out the brand. Are there opportunities or bets that you think you’re not getting still? Maybe just help provide some more context around that. Thanks.
Greg Brown: Happy to, Ryan. Like most organizations, we do brand surveys on a fairly frequent basis. Our unaided and aided brand awareness in a number of our key markets is much lower than we would have thought and much lower than you would expect. Yes, we believe that there’ll be a halo effect and we will get significant lift by investing in, developing Udemy into a household name synonymous with skills and skills development within organizations large and small. We’re underway. The investment we’re making in McLaren and the partnership there, multi-year investment, is just one of many investments we’re making to start to elevate the brand and give us an opportunity to make it much easier for our sales organization to have that first conversation in terms of just the awareness of the value and impact a relationship with Udemy can bring.
Top funnel, without question, is to quantify and impact, Ryan, is a goal and focus. We are quantitatively measuring the investment in brand in a variety of different ways. We’re excited about the early impact we’re starting to see and the programs are just kicking off. There’s a big opportunity for us. There really is.
