Reddit’s first-ever chief product officer, Pali Bhat, is leaving the corporate in “the approaching months,” spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt confirmed to The Verge. Bhat, a former Google government, joined Reddit in October 2021.
“His tenure was about as clear pre / publish check as we may run,” CEO Steve Huffman mentioned in an inner message in regards to the change supplied by Rathschmidt. “He developed a tradition of execution, constructed a proficient group, raised the bar, and navigated among the most difficult and vital moments in our historical past.”
The corporate is actively searching for a brand new product chief, Rathschmidt mentioned. Within the meantime, COO Jennifer Wong will oversee person progress initiatives, CTO Chris Slowe will oversee engineering, and Huffman will “proceed to” drive Reddit’s long-term product imaginative and prescient. “We’re nonetheless targeted on increasing globally, constructing an awesome advert product, enhancing search, and making the core product higher,” Rathschmidt mentioned.
Bhat has served as CPO as the corporate rolled out initiatives like options to make Reddit less complicated and an AI search software. His time additionally overlapped with the large protests on the platform over API pricing that pressured fashionable apps like Apollo to close down – protests that Reddit finally crushed. Final month, Huffman mentioned in a long post that the corporate is planning core product enhancements, updates to moderation instruments, and updates to go looking – let’s simply hope that the following CPO additionally desires to maintain outdated Reddit round.