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 take a look at as we might run,” CEO Steve Huffman stated in an inner message concerning the change supplied by Rathschmidt. “He developed a tradition of execution, constructed a proficient group, raised the bar, and navigated a number of the most difficult and essential moments in our historical past.”
The corporate is actively searching for a brand new product chief, Rathschmidt stated. Within the meantime, COO Jennifer Wong will oversee consumer 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 ideal advert product, enhancing search, and making the core product higher,” Rathschmidt stated.
Bhat has served as CPO as the corporate rolled out initiatives like options to make Reddit simpler and an AI search tool. His time additionally overlapped with the large protests on the platform over API pricing that compelled common apps like Apollo to close down – protests that Reddit eventually crushed. Final month, Huffman stated 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 subsequent CPO additionally needs to keep old Reddit around.