YouTube’s New CEO Neal Mohan: Can He Outperform TikTok and Instagram Reels?
YouTube has announced Neal Mohan as its new CEO, taking over from long-time chief executive Susan Wojcicki who stepped down on February 16th. Wojcicki, who was responsible for the acquisition of Google, the parent company of YouTube, helped build the platform into the world’s largest video-sharing website. Mohan, who has been serving as the chief product officer at YouTube, joined Google in 2008 and has been involved in YouTube Shorts and Music. He has also worked with Microsoft and serves on the board of Stitch Fix, a personal styling company, and the genomics and biotechnology company 23andMe.
Competition For Youtube
Mohan’s appointment comes at a time when YouTube is facing stiff competition from TikTok and Instagram Reels, which are short-duration videos platforms. YouTube has been working to combat this by developing and launching its own short-form video feature, Shorts, which has been rolled out to more than 100 countries.
AI ChatBots And The Future Of Searching For Information Online
Wojcicki’s departure also comes at a time when there is much excitement and concern about the role of AI chatbots in changing how the world might end up searching for information online. ChatGPT, a large language model trained by OpenAI, is one such chatbot that is now integrated with Microsoft’s Bing Search.
Who is Neal Mohan?
Neal Mohan, a Stanford graduate, has an extensive background in technology, business, and advertising. After obtaining his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, he went on to enrol in the university’s Graduate School of Business for an MBA in the early 2000s. For many years, he was part of DoubleClick, an internet advertising company, and with Google’s acquisition in 2007, he became a part of the tech giant, later becoming senior vice president of Display and Video Ads. In 2015, he became the chief product officer at YouTube and played a key role in overseeing and launching YouTube’s other major products.
Mohan’s Leadership Style
Mohan is known for having a great sense for YouTube’s product, business, creator and user communities, and employees. He has been described by his former boss as a rare combination of an “insatiable technologist” and a strategic customer-interacting business leader. Mohan has compared YouTube to a stage, where viewers need the best views of the creators they’re most excited about.
Indian-Origin CEOs Taking The Lead
Mohan, who is of Indian origin, is one of many CEOs who are leading global tech giants, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. Indian-origin CEOs are also leading other iconic US companies, such as Laxman Narasimhan, who is set to take over the reins of coffee chain Starbucks, and Raj Subramaniam, the CEO of FedEx, one of the world’s biggest transportation services companies.