Meta's chief revenue officer John Hegeman leaves to launch startup

Meta’s chief revenue officer John Hegeman said on Tuesday he will leave the Facebook parent to launch his own startup, marking a key leadership change amid the social media company’s pursuit of superintelligence.

His key responsibilities will be taken over by another Meta executive, Andrew Bocking, who currently leads Meta’s ads product and strategy team, according to Hegeman’s Facebook post.

This comes after a Financial Times report last week that Meta’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun is planning to leave the company to set up his own startup.

The company has been stepping up its investments in building AI infrastructure, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg reorganising the company’s AI initiatives under Superintelligence Labs.

Earlier this year, Zuckerberg hired Alexandr Wang, former CEO of data-labeling startup Scale AI, to lead the new AI effort.

Hegeman, citing “mix of emotions” regarding his departure, credited Zuckerberg for the trust and support.

Head of product at Meta, Naomi Gleit, will become the head of business AI, Hegeman said in his post.

Clara Shih, who joined Meta last year to lead the business AI unit, is also leaving the company, according to Bloomberg News.

Shih chose to step down from her position following her father’s unexpected death this year, according to the report.

Bloomberg News first reported Hegeman’s departure.

Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.