That Constant Thing Called Evolution
With the sheer pace of technology evolution, C-suite executives have a tough job at hand. Everything has become about the fine margins. When a company hires a Chief Product Officer, he/she is often seen as a transformation expert, not someone who is going to merely help sell more products. The global benchmarks being set every day only add to this pressure. Let’s look at the case of Pinterest. Came into existence in 2009 and made available to the public in 2012, Pinterest is a platform allowing users to explore visual ideas like home and style, recipes, and more.
However, the year 2009-2012 has a peculiarity; it is also the year Instagram, the most prominent photo and video-sharing social networking service, started conquering the online social world. The competition was humongous. Let me remind you what happened on the very day Instagram was launched- on October 6, 2010, Instagram appeared on Apple's App Store and attracted 25,000 users on the first day. In less than a quarter, it hit the one million user mark, a remarkable feat.
But Pinterest never conceded; instead, the company created its own niche with innovations in its strategies. However, a new set of challenges was thrown at Pinterest when Meta acquired Instagram, and the subsequent years witnessed a technology revolution powered by AI and ML. In 2019, Pinterest hired Naveen Gavini as its Product Officer and Jeremy King as its Technology officer. They both did an excellent job of helping Pinterest remain relevant amidst the new world order.
Pinterest enhanced its visual search capabilities by using AI and ML, strengthened its partnerships with e-commerce leaders, offered a smooth shopping experience, and turned pins into buyable items. Moreover, it now allows users to make money from their posts, depending on how many followers they have. It worked! This special issue of CEO Insights Asia is visiting the world of Chief Product Officers in Singapore.
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