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 / put up check as we may run,” CEO Steve Huffman mentioned in an inside message concerning the change offered by Rathschmidt. “He developed a tradition of execution, constructed a proficient workforce, raised the bar, and navigated a number of 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 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 a terrific advert product, bettering 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 simpler and an AI search tool. His time additionally overlapped with the large protests on the platform over API pricing that pressured standard apps like Apollo to close down – protests that Reddit eventually 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 subsequent CPO additionally desires to keep old Reddit around.