I’m excited to announce that Tom Savage has joined Coursera as our new Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, effective September 21, 2026.
Tom joins us at an important moment for Coursera. As we continue to scale our operations globally and build on the momentum of our combination with Udemy, we need legal leadership that understands how mission-driven technology companies operate, and can help us serve our growing community with the same rigor and care that have defined Coursera since its founding.
Tom brings exactly that. He spent nearly a decade at Red Hat in various legal leadership roles, most recently as Vice President and General Counsel for Red Hat at IBM. His experience helping lead a community-focused technology company, together with his deep passion for education, makes him an ideal leader to guide Coursera and its global ecosystem through its next phase of growth.
Earlier in his career, he served as General Counsel at Marvell Technology and as a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. He brings a rare combination of in-house and outside-counsel perspective across the technology industry. He holds a J.D. from The University of Chicago Law School and a B.A. in Government from Harvard College.
As we welcome Tom, I also want to recognize an important, planned transition in our legal team. After five years with the company, Alan Cardenas has decided to transition from his role as head of the legal department to focus on his family. To ensure a smooth transition, Alan will continue to remain in his role as General Counsel with Coursera until the end of 2026 to support Tom’s onboarding.
Alan joined us in our early months as a public company, and over the last five years, he has helped build a world-class legal team that supported some of the most significant milestones in our history — including the successful close of our combination with Udemy. On behalf of everyone at Coursera, I want to thank Alan for his years of outstanding partnership, leadership, and dedication, and wish him well in this next chapter.
I am excited about Tom’s leadership and expertise as we continue to expand Coursera’s role and impact globally. Our entire leadership team is looking forward to working with him and finding new ways to better serve our growing community of learners, customers, and partners around the world.
