Meta Taps Salesforce AI Veteran Clara Shih to Lead New Business AI Division

Meta is making a major push into business AI with the hiring of Clara Shih, former CEO of Salesforce AI, to spearhead a new "Business AI" group. The move signals Meta's serious intent to monetize its massive investment in AI technology and compete directly with enterprise AI platforms.

Shih announced her new role as vice president at Meta on LinkedIn, describing the opportunity as helping take Meta's business AI offerings "from zero to one to scale." Her mission: making cutting-edge AI accessible to every business and helping them "own their future in the AI era."

Key Strategic Moves

Leveraging Llama's Success: The new division builds on Meta's already impressive AI foundation. Llama models have been downloaded over 600 million times, while Meta AI boasts more than 500 million monthly active users.

Monetization Focus: Meta is working closely with its VP of Monetization John Hegeman to find revenue streams for business AI, suggesting the company is ready to cash in on its AI investments.

Controlling the Competition: Meta maintains strict licensing control over Llama, requiring businesses with more than 700 million monthly users to request special permission—keeping potential competitors in check.

Shih's Proven Track Record

Clara Shih brings impressive credentials to Meta. At Salesforce, she led the development of Agentforce autonomous bot platform and previously founded Hearsay Systems, which combined social networks, CRM, and AI for financial services sales teams.

Interestingly, Shih has history with Meta—she created Faceforce (later Faceconnector) during her first Salesforce stint, connecting CRM systems with Facebook's social graph. She called joining Meta "a full-circle moment."

This strategic hire positions Meta to challenge established players like Salesforce, Microsoft, and Google in the rapidly growing enterprise AI market. For businesses evaluating AI solutions, Meta's entry could mean more competitive options and pricing.

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