James Richards

James Richards has been working in the tech industry for over 20 years. James started their career at IBM as a software engineer, working on the company's mainframe OS. James then moved on to E Patterns, where they researched and blended new technologies for event-based system software. In 2001, they joined DemandTec as a senior software engineer, developing platform and application level systems. James left DemandTec in 2005 to join LinkedIn, where they spent the next nine years as a senior engineering manager. In 2014, they left LinkedIn to join Nest Labs as a manager. James left Nest Labs in 2016 to become the Chief Technology Officer at Udacity.

James Richards has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from UC Santa Barbara.

They are on a team with James'sham Elaraby - Chief Financial Officer, Jennifer Dearman - Chief Customer Officer, and Aparna Vemuri - Chief of Staff. James Richards reports to Gabe Dalporto, Chief Executive Officer.