Critical thinking as an AI skill

How Coursera's VP of Enterprise Is Reskilling 7,000+ Organizations with AI — Anthony Salcito on the 234% GenAI Enrollment Surge, Verified Skills Paths, and the Human Side of AI Transformation

Anthony Salcito is the Vice President of Enterprise at Coursera, where he leads a $255.3 million enterprise business partnering with over 7,000 organizations globally. In this episode, Anthony breaks down why GenAI enrollments on Coursera have surged 234% year over year, why 84% of leaders plan to increase AI investment while only 38% say their teams are ready, and what it actually takes to build AI skills that stick inside an organization.

From his 20+ years leading Microsoft's global education efforts to his work at Nerdy and Varsity Tutors, Anthony shares his framework for human-first AI transformation. He explains how Coursera is using AI-powered coaching, role play simulations, verified skills paths, and Course Builder to close the enterprise AI skills gap — and why critical thinking, not just prompt engineering, is the skill that matters most.

Key Topics Covered:

• The 234% year-over-year surge in GenAI enrollments on Coursera and what is driving global demand
• Why 84% of leaders plan to increase AI investment but only 38% say their teams are ready
• Coursera's verified skills paths and how they provide stackable, demonstrable AI credentials
• The role of AI-powered Coach in improving course completion — 94% report improved experience, 9.5% higher quiz pass rate
• How Course Builder lets enterprises customize world-class AI content from Google, Anthropic, and Microsoft for their specific business context
• Why critical thinking enrollments grew 185% alongside technical AI skills
• The four phases of technology adoption: displacement fear, skills erosion, complacency, and true transformation
• How gamification and role play simulations make enterprise AI learning stick
• Coursera's integration with ChatGPT and the future of learning in the flow of work
• Why the shift from "4 years for 40 years" to "40 for 4" demands lifelong micro-credentialing

Episode Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction and Anthony Salcito's background

01:42 - Growing up in the Bronx and how technology became a catalyst

04:10 - Teaching Girl Scouts Visual Basic in 1995 and the education spark

06:18 - The through line from Microsoft to Nerdy to Coursera Enterprise

08:24 - Walking into Coursera's $239M enterprise business — what surprised him

11:22 - 234% GenAI enrollment growth and 15 enrollments per minute

13:57 - Verified skills paths and proving AI competency beyond course completions

16:19 - Why critical thinking grew 185% and how schools need to change

20:41 - Hard skills vs. soft skills and the competency-based education gap

23:58 - What makes AI learning stick: personalization, mixed modality, and Coach

27:40 - Coach results: 94% improved experience and the power of gamification

31:55 - Live role play: pitching AI reskilling to a 1,000-person construction company

36:24 - The four phases of technology adoption and why complacency is the biggest threat

40:25 - Human-first AI transformation and why people-centric companies win

43:39 - How Coursera keeps up with fast-moving AI content creators

46:20 - The 3-5 year vision: micro-credentials, learning in the flow of work, and ChatGPT integration

50:55 - Why Anthony does what he does

About Anthony Salcito

Anthony Salcito is the Vice President of Enterprise at Coursera, where he leads the company's enterprise business serving over 7,000 organizations worldwide. Before joining Coursera, Anthony spent 20+ years at Microsoft leading global education efforts, visiting over 80 countries and nearly 3,000 classrooms. He also served in leadership roles at Nerdy and Varsity Tutors and chairs the nonprofit Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship.