Meta Platforms has appointed Vishal Shah, one of its longest-serving executives, to oversee product management for artificial intelligence, as the company continues to reorganise its AI operations and expand development across its platforms.
Shah, who led Instagram’s product management for over six years before becoming Vice President of Metaverse in 2021, will now report to Nat Friedman, Meta’s Head of AI Product. The move was first reported by the Financial Times, citing an internal memo circulated within the company earlier this week.
Leadership changes follow AI division layoffs
The leadership reshuffle follows recent layoffs affecting around 600 employees in Meta’s Superintelligence Labs unit, a division created by CEO Mark Zuckerberg earlier this year to consolidate the company’s AI research and infrastructure efforts.
The reductions impacted teams across Meta’s Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) unit, AI infrastructure, and AI product roles, while the newly formed TBD Lab, which houses the company’s most recent AI hires, was unaffected.
In an internal note addressing the changes, Alexandr Wang, Meta’s Chief AI Officer, said the restructuring was intended to “reduce the number of conversations required to make decisions” and give remaining team members “greater scope and impact.”
The reorganisation aims to streamline Meta’s AI operations as the company competes with Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic in the development of large-scale AI models and consumer applications.
Focus on integrating AI across Meta’s ecosystem
According to Bloomberg, Shah’s new role will involve overseeing how Meta’s AI technologies, including its Meta AI chatbot, are integrated across its apps and devices, such as Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Ray-Ban smart glasses.
Meta has positioned its AI strategy around an open-source approach, allowing developers to build upon its Llama series of models. The company’s Llama 4 models, launched in 2025, include multimodal systems such as Scout and Maverick, which have performed competitively against industry peers.
Meta’s growing investment in AI talent
The appointment reflects a broader trend among major technology firms directing leadership and investment toward artificial intelligence. Meta has significantly increased its AI recruitment, with some senior hires receiving compensation packages valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars, as reported by The Information.
The changes mark a new phase in Meta’s AI strategy as it seeks to unify research, infrastructure, and product development under a more coordinated leadership structure.