Speaker 1: Welcome to another electrifying episode of Possible Now. Today, I
Speaker 1: have the absolute pleasure of introducing a true trailblazer in
Speaker 1: the world of digital innovation, Nicola Mendelssohn, Head of the
Speaker 1: Global Business Group at Meta. Nikola is not just a leader,
Speaker 1: She's a visionary who has spent decades redefining the future
Speaker 1: of advertising, digital strategy, and brand engagement. From shaping the
Speaker 1: way businesses connect with audiences to driving some of the
Speaker 1: most transformative shifts in the industry, her impact is undeniable.
Speaker 1: Under her leadership, MITA has not only evolved, but set
Speaker 1: the standard for innovation, storytelling, and human centric marketing on
Speaker 1: a global scale. Beyond her groundbreaking work at Meta, Nicola
Speaker 1: is a fierce advocate for female entrepreneurship and leadership, empowering
Speaker 1: thousands of women through initiatives like hashtag she means business.
Speaker 1: Her influence extends beyond corporate boardrooms. She's shaping the very
Speaker 1: future of digital connectivity. So buckle up for an insightful
Speaker 1: and inspiring conversation as we explore Nicola's journey, her bold
Speaker 1: vision for the future, and what's next in the ever
Speaker 1: evolving world of digital marketing. Nicola a very warm welcome.
Speaker 2: Oh thank you, Christian. I'm not sure I recognize myself there,
Speaker 2: but thank you for the lovely words.
Speaker 1: I'm sure the audience will so. Nikola, You've had obviously
Speaker 1: such an incredible career and there's so much more to come.
Speaker 1: So to kick off our conversation today, what experiences from
Speaker 1: your early life shape the leader you are today? Is
Speaker 1: there maybe any tiny little secret which I don't know
Speaker 1: yet or the audience don't know yet, which you are
Speaker 1: able to share with us.
Speaker 2: I've actually been reflecting on this recently because my children
Speaker 2: are growing up. They're in the twenties now, and I
Speaker 2: was reflecting on the fact that actually I've only ever
Speaker 2: had four jobs by doing kind of the waitressing jobs
Speaker 2: as you go through university, I've only had four jobs,
Speaker 2: whereas my eldest child has already had four jobs. So
Speaker 2: you know, we're in such an even that that of
Speaker 2: itself is so different to where I think younger people
Speaker 2: in Korea are today. Each job, I think has had
Speaker 2: pivotal moments woven through them from a personal perspective and
Speaker 2: also a professional perspective, because I think the things that
Speaker 2: happen in your life obviously define what happens in your
Speaker 2: work and vice versa as well. So my earliest job
Speaker 2: was about actually moving from where I had grown up
Speaker 2: in the north of England to actually working for Battle
Speaker 2: Bogel Hagate at a really exciting time in advertising and
Speaker 2: also a really exciting time for that company and the
Speaker 2: outputs they were creating. You know, I had my own business,
Speaker 2: so you know, going from a very big business to
Speaker 2: a very small business where the whole team could literally
Speaker 2: sit round one table, you know, to the queuing up
Speaker 2: at the table at the shops to buy the computers
Speaker 2: and organizing the catering ecce doing everything right, and then
Speaker 2: ultimately to winning Matter nearly twelve years ago, or Facebook
Speaker 2: as it was then. Yeah, each one of those experiences
Speaker 2: changed my outlook, changed who I am as a person.
Speaker 2: And intersperse that with the fact that, as I said,
Speaker 2: four children along the way as well, probably is the
Speaker 2: thing that define me the most is the person, the
Speaker 2: human and the leader that I am today.
Speaker 1: And well supportably obviously you felt that was always the
Speaker 1: right decision for you to move from a smaller organization
Speaker 1: to a bigger organization and what's the right time to
Speaker 1: do it, and talking about this massive organization, not just
Speaker 1: as meta as a as a whole corporate douct also
Speaker 1: your responsibility, I mean your job TI ahead of global
Speaker 1: business group. You run such a massive team and of
Speaker 1: course business as well. By the way, how many markets
Speaker 1: are you covering with your team?
Speaker 2: We're in a lot of markets. We're in We have
Speaker 2: offices in over forty markets around the world.
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, So when we look into what you cover
Speaker 1: in your job, I mean it looks even bigger, right,
Speaker 1: client partnership and relationship management, it means revenue growth, it
Speaker 1: means strategy and so much more. And as we all know,
Speaker 1: MITA is at the forefront of innovation. So how do
Speaker 1: you navigate leading such a big global team in such
Speaker 1: a fast changing industry? What is your secret?
Speaker 2: So? I think probably the thing that attracts a lot
Speaker 2: of people to the tech businesses is a curiosity and
Speaker 2: a learning mindset and the fact that the product you
Speaker 2: have today is not going to be the product that
Speaker 2: you have tomorrow. And the extraordinary privilege actually it is
Speaker 2: to work at a company like Matter that is really
Speaker 2: pushing the boundaries of what human connection human communication is
Speaker 2: and so alongside that, if you're the hype of person
Speaker 2: that's comfortable in the here and now, likes the status, go,
Speaker 2: this is not a job for you. But if you're
Speaker 2: curious and you want to learn, and you want to
Speaker 2: push and you want to do better, then I think
Speaker 2: that these are very exciting places. So that's one part
Speaker 2: of it. You know, do you have the mindset the
Speaker 2: adaptability to want to do it? And then I think
Speaker 2: there is certainly something that couples with that, which is
Speaker 2: what is your bias to action? How well are you
Speaker 2: able to prioritize, how well are you able to focus
Speaker 2: from my side of the house on what's best for
Speaker 2: our clients. How are we going to give the strongest
Speaker 2: row us, How are we going to represent them with
Speaker 2: the engineers, How are we going to get the best
Speaker 2: return for the partners. Because if the partners and the
Speaker 2: clients are seeing strong row US from you know, the
Speaker 2: products we're creating, then I think that stands in good steads.
Speaker 2: So being able to adapt, being able to execute, being
Speaker 2: able to move fast as well. These are fast paced,
Speaker 2: changing environments. I think a lot of companies say that,
Speaker 2: but actually this is this is the live, day to
Speaker 2: day reality here.
Speaker 1: And you know, when I Randy Mexico for years and
Speaker 1: now possible. What I like in my job is working
Speaker 1: with sill different cultures, you know, with international businesses and clients.
Speaker 1: E said, I assume this is at the top of
Speaker 1: your daily work as well within your team in various countries,
Speaker 1: but or your client relationships. How challenging is this, you know,
Speaker 1: to deal with these different cultures every day.
Speaker 2: Well, I think that's about the amazing team that we have,
Speaker 2: so that having people on the ground, having people to
Speaker 2: be able to channel back the insights that we're hearing
Speaker 2: from different parts of the world. I think that's a
Speaker 2: really important part. Ultimately, there's so much of the role
Speaker 2: is about education both ways, making sure that we're really
Speaker 2: clear about what the needs of our partners are, our
Speaker 2: advertisers are, but also making sure if there are differences,
Speaker 2: that we can seek to understand those better and perhaps adapt.
Speaker 2: But often, you know, so much of what we do
Speaker 2: it matter is very much operating on a global basis.
Speaker 2: Certainly on the advertising products as well, we might test
Speaker 2: in different parts of the world, but ultimately we're really
Speaker 2: excited about the fact that the products should and can
Speaker 2: be able to work anywhere and help any partner to
Speaker 2: be able to grow.
Speaker 1: Right, So what I've mentioned in my intro to you
Speaker 1: was already that you're dedicated, you know, significant time to
Speaker 1: supporting entrepreneurs, especially female entrepreneur, particularly through initiatives like hashtag
Speaker 1: she means Business. Can you share a specific story about
Speaker 1: an entrepreneur who surprised or inspired you along the way
Speaker 1: and what did you learn from these very personal relationships.
Speaker 2: Look, it's been a privilege to be at the company
Speaker 2: and to have enabled so many millions of businesses, actually
Speaker 2: for men and women the world over to be able
Speaker 2: to grow. One of the things I love and I'm
Speaker 2: passionate about tech is that it is ultimately the ultimate leveler.
Speaker 2: It really allows anybody who has a phone and a
Speaker 2: handful of dollars to be able to start a business.
Speaker 2: And when I've traveled the world, I've met those men
Speaker 2: and women through programs like Yes, like the one you
Speaker 2: mentioned that she Means Business program, we actually trained over
Speaker 2: a million women in over thirty eight markets around the world,
Speaker 2: which is a very humbling thought. And there are many
Speaker 2: examples across so many different industries, whether it's the beauty
Speaker 2: industry that you know everything, jewelry, clothing services. You've see
Speaker 2: many things that come forward in terms of different challenges
Speaker 2: I think, and particularly for women starting business. You know
Speaker 2: how difficult it is to get the financing, and we
Speaker 2: know that you know, less than two percent of the
Speaker 2: VC money out there today actually goes to female founded startups.
Speaker 2: One of the reasons I'm very bullish about where we
Speaker 2: are in this new AI era, and I'm sure we'll
Speaker 2: talk about AI as we get through it, but I
Speaker 2: beat you to it is that I think it has
Speaker 2: the opportunity to bring more equity for people tourenning up businesses.
Speaker 2: So if you don't have that extra capital to be
Speaker 2: able to spend on marketing, then in the future, actually
Speaker 2: the things that we'll be able to do with them AI,
Speaker 2: through the agents, through generative AI, actually will further enhance
Speaker 2: the ability for different business owners to be able to
Speaker 2: get their messages out there. But yeah, so some of
Speaker 2: the biggest beauty brands today now that exists, I'm just thinking.
Speaker 2: Good back to the specific question. I remember working with
Speaker 2: the likes of Charlotte Tiri, Trinny Woodle when they were
Speaker 2: embryonic ideas you know, and now they're well, you know,
Speaker 2: unicorn business. It's fantastic to see the success that starts
Speaker 2: with one product and a handful of ads and then
Speaker 2: just grows and grows.
Speaker 1: So maybe let's combine. You know, you already mentioned AI
Speaker 1: and of course no conversation without that topic or at
Speaker 1: least touching the topic. And my next question following up
Speaker 1: on the previous topic is in your experience, what are
Speaker 1: the biggest barriers still in today's time, you know, women
Speaker 1: face on entrepreneurship and how can they overcome them? And
Speaker 1: is AI helpful to overcome them? So is AI helping
Speaker 1: here in some way or is it completely independent from
Speaker 1: these tech trends.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so the answer is it can, and it should
Speaker 2: and it must. But there was some recent research that
Speaker 2: I was just reading literally just this week that says
Speaker 2: that women are using AI in business on average about
Speaker 2: twenty percent less than men, and this is a real worry.
Speaker 2: The research, I think it was from Harvard actually dug
Speaker 2: further into understand why, and actually the qual side of
Speaker 2: it is quite interesting here. The qual size said that
Speaker 2: women actually feel like they're cheating if they're using it.
Speaker 2: It feels like, you know, you're not doing the job
Speaker 2: properly if AI is enabling you to do it, and
Speaker 2: that's a terrible thing because it also means that AI
Speaker 2: is then only training on men who are using it,
Speaker 2: not just women. And at the same time, we know
Speaker 2: that hiring managers and managers believe that people who use
Speaker 2: AI as part of their work toolkit now actually will
Speaker 2: do better in the workplace. So this is a real problem.
Speaker 2: If there are any women out there listening right now
Speaker 2: that are having this thought going through their head, my
Speaker 2: answer to you all is cheat, cheat, because it's the
Speaker 2: right thing to do. It's not really cheating. It's an enabler.
Speaker 2: It will make you effective, it will make you more productive,
Speaker 2: and it will allow you and free you up the
Speaker 2: time to be able to spend on some of the
Speaker 2: more strategic and more important questions that you need to address.
Speaker 1: That's a very interesting information. I didn't know that. I'm
Speaker 1: not aware of this survey. And obviously, which would be
Speaker 1: my next question, what would be your key advice for women?
Speaker 1: Obviously you already said it, you know, cheat and use
Speaker 1: all the advantages coming out of these tech friends. Obviously,
Speaker 1: like men and like everybody else, which is obvious.
Speaker 2: I would also say, adopt a tech learning mindset, which
Speaker 2: is to embrace failure. You know, just start to utilize
Speaker 2: it into your day every day. So I was talking
Speaker 2: to Tiffany, the founder of tiff and Tech. She has
Speaker 2: an online education business around tech, making it simple, making
Speaker 2: it easier, and she said, just start with sixty seconds
Speaker 2: a day. Just start with sixty seconds a day of
Speaker 2: enriching yourself with new learnings, new ways of doing things,
Speaker 2: new tools into your daily diet, both professionally and personally,
Speaker 2: and ultimately that will build your muscle up in this
Speaker 2: area better, so you'll feel more confident and more fluent
Speaker 2: in using it.
Speaker 1: That's a great advice. Thanks for sharing this with the audience.
Speaker 1: I don't know how you look into this, but the
Speaker 1: lines between our work life and the rest of our
Speaker 1: lives can feel really blurred these days. I'm not sure
Speaker 1: if it's because of the pandemic or if it would
Speaker 1: happen anyway. At the end, it is as it is
Speaker 1: in today's time. I think you are generously public about
Speaker 1: some of the personal challenges you've faced, like your cancer
Speaker 1: diagnosis a couple of years ago. If you're open to
Speaker 1: share your experiences here with the audience, I mean going public,
Speaker 1: being so transparent, not just within your organization, to your team,
Speaker 1: to your colleagues, but also to everybody including your clients.
Speaker 1: Did you ever feel more vulnerable in these days? And
Speaker 1: I assume you've got a lot of support. I assume
Speaker 1: also that that was hopefully a lot of you know,
Speaker 1: provide a lot of positive energy back to you. So
Speaker 1: are you willing or able to share some of your
Speaker 1: experiences with our listeners?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I am actually Christin. You and I have known
Speaker 2: each other a long time. Can you believe it was
Speaker 2: actually twenty sixteen when I was diagnosed with a blood cancer,
Speaker 2: a non Hodgkins bloo can so called follicular lymphoma. You
Speaker 2: also know that I'm a pretty open person, and so
Speaker 2: I've always thought that the idea of hiding things from
Speaker 2: the people you work with or the people that you love,
Speaker 2: actually can make things more stressful and harder. And that
Speaker 2: is certainly true with when you face up to, you know,
Speaker 2: a diagnosis of cancer, because you know it hits you
Speaker 2: in the face a your own mortality, which, honestly, up
Speaker 2: until the age of forty five, I had never thought
Speaker 2: about my own mortality. It's that's not who I am.
Speaker 2: I'm a pretty optimistic, positive person, and so getting a
Speaker 2: diagnosis was Honestly, it was the worst. It was the
Speaker 2: worst day weekend because you don't quite get the whole
Speaker 2: diagnosis straight away of my life and the hardest thing
Speaker 2: that yeah, that my family has ever had to deal with.
Speaker 2: And that was also part of what was so difficult,
Speaker 2: which is this is not something that happens just to
Speaker 2: you in isolation. It happens to the people around you.
Speaker 2: I also know how fortunate I was to work at
Speaker 2: a company that was there for me unquestionably in terms
Speaker 2: of taking the time off of the tests or whatever
Speaker 2: it was I needed, and I know for a lot
Speaker 2: of people that's not the case. So I'm very secure
Speaker 2: in my foundations and very blessed to be secure in
Speaker 2: the foundations of you know, the people I love in
Speaker 2: my family, my community, and also my work friends, my
Speaker 2: work community, and my employer. But I think ultimately I
Speaker 2: didn't ever think I wouldn't share it or be open
Speaker 2: about it. I think I could never have envisaged the
Speaker 2: outpouring of love and support that I received totally was
Speaker 2: overwhelming and kind of I think a helped me through
Speaker 2: that period but also pushed me to think about what
Speaker 2: else I could do. This cancer is currently incurable I
Speaker 2: am well today, and so I'm glad. I'm grateful for
Speaker 2: that I did have chemotherapy, I did have immunotherapy. The
Speaker 2: pandemic was much worse for me in terms of having
Speaker 2: to be super super careful because people suffering with blood
Speaker 2: cancer were in the most vulnerable class, in the most
Speaker 2: vulnerable groups because our immune systems are so compromised.
Speaker 1: Being more isolated than everybody else at this time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, my isolation last about eighteen months.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a very long time. But it also
Speaker 2: my family's isolation as a result as well. So look,
Speaker 2: I also know how lucky I am to have the
Speaker 2: support that I do have, And now I channel my
Speaker 2: energies here now today into a foundation to try and
Speaker 2: find a cure for people that are living with follicular
Speaker 2: lymphoma in parts burned on by the Facebook group that
Speaker 2: was created that I'm the co admin of, where we
Speaker 2: now have over eleven thousand people that live with follicular
Speaker 2: and infirm which is the largest group of people that
Speaker 2: have ever been kind of got together. So that's part
Speaker 2: of what I strive for every day as well, that
Speaker 2: we'll find a cure.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for sharing this with us. It's
Speaker 1: so impressive your personal journey, but of course also the
Speaker 1: work you do in terms of helping others with similar challenges.
Speaker 1: But looking back, obviously you say that was the right
Speaker 1: move right you would do it again.
Speaker 2: Yeah, one hundred percent, definitely. And I see people that
Speaker 2: because I've been so open, many people CEOs come up
Speaker 2: to me and say they live with similar thing or
Speaker 2: they have it, and so many are private. And when
Speaker 2: I ask the question back about how much more stress
Speaker 2: does that give, I often see people's shoulders go up
Speaker 2: and that tightening and that stress that comes from it,
Speaker 2: of that almost having to live a double life around
Speaker 2: issues with your health. And so I just hope that
Speaker 2: people out there can actually look to the support of
Speaker 2: their friends and their employees to be able to say
Speaker 2: it's okay to talk about it, because more people than
Speaker 2: not will be there for you and if anything, can
Speaker 2: lighten the journey as you're going through a significant health issue.
Speaker 2: But actually I don't think it's just about health. You know,
Speaker 2: there's so many disruptions in life that you often don't
Speaker 2: expect back. I think the more we're that for people,
Speaker 2: the more we can better understand who they are and
Speaker 2: ultimately how they're performing in their role. If we can
Speaker 2: help support them in different ways as well with their jobs.
Speaker 1: That's a strong message. Thank you for sharing this with
Speaker 1: the audience. Of course, it's part of the overall balancing,
Speaker 1: you know, such a high profile career and personal life
Speaker 1: and the challenges in your personal life as well. So
Speaker 1: how do you manage this today in general, the work
Speaker 1: life balance? How do you manage this in your current situation?
Speaker 1: And what advice would you have for people out there?
Speaker 1: Do you have a routine? Is it more you know,
Speaker 1: doing it day by day, which I assume it's not.
Speaker 1: So is there anything you want to share with Yeah, forgive.
Speaker 2: Me because I really like you, but I really hate
Speaker 2: your question around balance. Okay, And I'll tell you the
Speaker 2: reason I really hate the word balance, Please do serve.
Speaker 2: It's because it implies that if you're getting it wrong
Speaker 2: fifty percent at the time, that if things aren't perfectly aligned,
Speaker 2: then you're either not good at your job or you're
Speaker 2: not good in your life. And I just see the
Speaker 2: whole thing has kind of smudged together. And so that's
Speaker 2: the first thing that sometimes society can place unfair expectations
Speaker 2: on people as to what they should be doing. There's
Speaker 2: no such thing as normal. What works for some families
Speaker 2: or people or you know, couples or individuals isn't the
Speaker 2: same as the thing that will work for the next one.
Speaker 2: For me, I've always started the I do like a
Speaker 2: bit of vision writing, and I always start the year with,
Speaker 2: you know, a conversation with my husband, with my kids,
Speaker 2: because that's my anchor, that's my route in terms of
Speaker 2: what everybody wants to do this year, what are the
Speaker 2: most important things, and starting with that understanding and the
Speaker 2: clarity about what we all care about, what we all
Speaker 2: want to do, where we might like to go on holiday,
Speaker 2: those kind of things. Work will tell you this is
Speaker 2: not about you know, having to do this for work.
Speaker 2: Work will be very clear, these are your KPIs, these
Speaker 2: are the things that you need to do. But I
Speaker 2: think if you're not intentional and you don't think about
Speaker 2: the things that matter most to you, then you'll end
Speaker 2: up just kind of going along for the ride. And
Speaker 2: the ride is usually one that's created by somebody else
Speaker 2: that happens to you, versus what you can take control
Speaker 2: of that you can kind of manage and go forwards with.
Speaker 1: Okay, So we're in agreement. We skip the term balance, right,
Speaker 1: it doesn't exist anymore. All right, I get it. Everybody
Speaker 1: else gets it as well. So that's that's good. That's good.
Speaker 1: So let's talk about business a bit more about you know,
Speaker 1: well that.
Speaker 2: Question you did as you did ask me one other
Speaker 2: bit of the question, which was about routines. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: this is an area I do try and think about
Speaker 2: a lot, and for me, the most important thing here
Speaker 2: is sleep. I really believe that sleep is a weapon.
Speaker 2: It is the foundation of everything mental health, physical health,
Speaker 2: well being. And so I do walk around with my
Speaker 2: ora ring. I do look at it religiously every day.
Speaker 2: And the things that can impact my sleep are the
Speaker 2: things that I treasure and try and preserve the most,
Speaker 2: whether it's you know, what I eat, what I drink.
Speaker 2: And I'm never as good on the exercise side of things.
Speaker 2: But I'll tell you one thing I have started picking
Speaker 2: up in the last year, which is actually making the
Speaker 2: space and the time. And it will sound so strange,
Speaker 2: but just to be able to breathe and spend the
Speaker 2: time breathing in a in a more reflective manner actually
Speaker 2: can massively improve your HLV scores, which ultimately helps your
Speaker 2: you know, your restorative side of you better sleep, better
Speaker 2: well being. So those are a couple of things that
Speaker 2: are important.
Speaker 1: I totally agree, especially with sleep. You know, this is
Speaker 1: especially when you're like you're, you know, traveling so much
Speaker 1: and be in different places all the time. I totally agree,
Speaker 1: this is the best protection you know to stay fit
Speaker 1: and healthy. So you already mentioned AI and obviously you
Speaker 1: know there is no conversation without touching this before we
Speaker 1: do this. Looking into the last twenty years of Matter
Speaker 1: and how this company developed over the last more than
Speaker 1: ten years, how would you define Matter's identity today? It
Speaker 1: certainly feels like social media company is far too narrow
Speaker 1: as a definition. I'm not sure if tech company is
Speaker 1: a better one. And where do you see it evolving
Speaker 1: into the next two, three, four or five years.
Speaker 2: So we've certainly evolved from being simply a social media company,
Speaker 2: but we've always been a company that connects people and
Speaker 2: that remains at the heart of everything we do. I mean,
Speaker 2: we're a technology company now, that's what we are, and
Speaker 2: Matter and the world everything is just doesn't it feel
Speaker 2: like the world is just getting faster and faster, And
Speaker 2: so I think it's really hard for any of us
Speaker 2: to say where we're going to be in five years time.
Speaker 2: But you know, Mark's set out some very clear expectations
Speaker 2: about where he sees the shift is going to be
Speaker 2: with AI, with the use of agents, and also all
Speaker 2: the world of augmented and virtually. I mean, I think
Speaker 2: there's some really exciting things on the horizon there as well.
Speaker 2: So yes, it's shifted, Yes there's a change with some
Speaker 2: of that core DNA around technology. Company that's connecting people
Speaker 2: orbit in new and different ways remains a constant.
Speaker 1: So following up on this and before we go forward
Speaker 1: into the future a bit more, at least for the
Speaker 1: next couple of months and one two years, you run
Speaker 1: a massive ad business for this company, and looking back
Speaker 1: in the last maybe one two years, how has met
Speaker 1: US ADS business evolved over the last few years and
Speaker 1: what was the innovation which drove this transformation? Obviously I
Speaker 1: could be part of this. I assume it is what
Speaker 1: made the difference in the last one two years. And
Speaker 1: of course, then looking forward into the next let's say
Speaker 1: twelve months or so, what can clients expect for their
Speaker 1: campaigns and improvements and additional services in the ads business,
Speaker 1: maybe you're able to look back a second, you know,
Speaker 1: and then of course touch what we can expect in
Speaker 1: the future. In the future.
Speaker 2: Dibly proud of the results that we are driving for
Speaker 2: millions of businesses around the world that are using our platforms.
Speaker 2: And you know, this is due to the brilliance of
Speaker 2: you know, the likes of John Hegeman and Andrew Bocking,
Speaker 2: who are leading on all the work that we're doing
Speaker 2: on the monetization side for Meta. You know, the fact
Speaker 2: that I can sit here today and say because of
Speaker 2: the advancements that we made in AI, the rebuilding of
Speaker 2: the creation of our Advantage plus Meta suite of products,
Speaker 2: advertisers in the US today are seeing it a twenty
Speaker 2: two percent increase on average in rowas that's because of
Speaker 2: the AI driven targeting. The features goes up to actually
Speaker 2: over twenty five percent if you're in Europe. So these
Speaker 2: are fantastic numbers. But these are not things that we
Speaker 2: are We don't sit on our laurels and think that's it.
Speaker 2: We're constantly evolving what the products are that we're creating
Speaker 2: in order to address the needs of advertisers. And so
Speaker 2: to the point of where this is all going it's
Speaker 2: bringing together the performance side of meta advantage with the
Speaker 2: GENAI tools that we're creating and developing in order to
Speaker 2: help advertisers create different variations across all of their different
Speaker 2: ad content, whether it's text to static images and even
Speaker 2: video with speed and quality and low cost. And we're
Speaker 2: already seeing these products are not very old, but we've
Speaker 2: already got four million advertisers that are using them. They're
Speaker 2: already creating tens of millions of different ads with strong results,
Speaker 2: and we're seeing already an estimated to seven percent increasing
Speaker 2: conversions since people have started to adopt this and feature
Speaker 2: it into their campaigns. So you're going to see us
Speaker 2: continue to double down and invest more in AI, which
Speaker 2: of course everything is built on top of LAMA, our
Speaker 2: large language model, and ultimately benefiting advertisers with the performance
Speaker 2: that they're seeing.
Speaker 1: So I mean, obviously MITA has implemented a lot using
Speaker 1: I and you've mentioned a couple of things I would add,
Speaker 1: you know, enhancing personalized content to optim ad delivery. It
Speaker 1: also positively impacts the level of creativity you've mentioned clients, Ari,
Speaker 1: is there one dedicated thing you would like users as
Speaker 1: well as brands to know about metas Ai integration. So
Speaker 1: for the next couple of months, really, you know, if
Speaker 1: there would be you know, an announcement to be expected
Speaker 1: in the near future in which director I mean not
Speaker 1: that you do it right now here, obviously, but in
Speaker 1: which direction? You know, is there anything we can expect.
Speaker 1: Is it all based on AI these days, which is
Speaker 1: massive obviously and provides a lot of opportunities, or is
Speaker 1: there anything else?
Speaker 2: Yeah, So there's two parts that I would comment here on.
Speaker 2: First starts on the user side with Meta AI. So
Speaker 2: the fact that today metaai is being used by over
Speaker 2: seven hundred million people for free, I think is really exciting. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and I think this is the year that one of
Speaker 2: the platforms will hit a billion users, and I very
Speaker 2: much hope that that's going to be Meta is the
Speaker 2: one that does that. And Then on the business side,
Speaker 2: I think there's real huge excitement around the you know,
Speaker 2: the business agent side of things. We're already seeing that
Speaker 2: there's over six hundred million conversations every single day between
Speaker 2: people and businesses. That's happening on places like Instagram, direct
Speaker 2: a Messenger and also on WhatsApp as well. So this
Speaker 2: opportunity here is enormous and We've already announced that we're
Speaker 2: expanding our business AIS to thousands of business using things
Speaker 2: like click to message ads on WhatsApp or messenger in English.
Speaker 2: So this is something that businesses can really quickly set up.
Speaker 2: They can get going with a business AI that can
Speaker 2: already you talk to their customer, that can offer support,
Speaker 2: that can facilitate commerce. And where I see it going
Speaker 2: is that just in the same way that today every
Speaker 2: business has a website or a social media presence or
Speaker 2: an email, we absolutely expect that every business is going
Speaker 2: to have an AI agent that will interact with the
Speaker 2: customers for them twenty four hours a day, seven days
Speaker 2: a week. And I think that's just really exciting and
Speaker 2: it's a whole new area of communication and customers support
Speaker 2: that we're just starting to scratch the surface of. And
Speaker 2: for marketers, I think it's got really interesting implications of
Speaker 2: what it means to actually have, you know, almost a
Speaker 2: three dimensional agent that can speak on behalf of the brand,
Speaker 2: be the brand, What does that mean? What does that
Speaker 2: you know? What will that sound like, what will that
Speaker 2: look like? What will that tone of voice be? So
Speaker 2: I think that's a very exciting thing that advertisers marketers
Speaker 2: are going to get behind over the weeks and months ahead.
Speaker 1: Right, And obviously there's not just one agent, right we
Speaker 1: are dealing with there or there are several, I know,
Speaker 1: for all the different purposes. Maybe to look into the
Speaker 1: broader environment and initiatives, which was and still it is
Speaker 1: called midaverse. There's been significant investments and into the other
Speaker 1: behind MID vision for the midaverse. How is mid evolving
Speaker 1: its strategy to keep this momentum alive? And where do
Speaker 1: you see the metaverse fitting into Meta's long term ecosystem?
Speaker 1: Also coming from the AI perspective, is AI part of
Speaker 1: the metaverse? Is metaverse part of the II development and trend?
Speaker 1: Maybe you can give us a bit more clarity about
Speaker 1: how this will fit with each other.
Speaker 2: So look, I think the buzz around the term metaverse
Speaker 2: has kind of receded, but I don't think we should
Speaker 2: mistake that for a lack of progress. Meta has invested
Speaker 2: billions on metaverse related initiatives. We've got a multi year
Speaker 2: headstart on shipping VR hardware. And you know, I think
Speaker 2: Mark Zuckerberg believes in the metaverse more than any other
Speaker 2: corporate executive. And to your question on AI, yes, there
Speaker 2: is a great AI metaverse convergence because the metaverse is
Speaker 2: powered by AI and AI is you know, it's one
Speaker 2: of the two major technological waves that drives meta's roadmap.
Speaker 2: We've got a huge AI wave today and are building
Speaker 2: the metaverse wave for the future. And so we've been
Speaker 2: investing in fundamental research into both areas ever since. And
Speaker 2: you know, the breakthroughs in areas like things like computer vision,
Speaker 2: that's what actually has enabled the VR side of things
Speaker 2: to take off. And it's AI made with mixed reality
Speaker 2: devices that have made things like the Quest three device possible,
Speaker 2: which is built on a deep stack of AI power
Speaker 2: technologies where they're blending the physical and the digital worlds
Speaker 2: and you know, delivering augmented reality experiences. And then when
Speaker 2: you come to our Rayba Meta smart glasses, they've got
Speaker 2: there got AI meta AI embedded, so that then allows
Speaker 2: people to gain access to things like well, if you
Speaker 2: tried them, you can get things like helpful info, recommendations,
Speaker 2: you can get suggestions. You know, you can have all
Speaker 2: these things on the go just by being able to
Speaker 2: use the person's voice and the AI. I think if
Speaker 2: you think about the future, we think about the AI
Speaker 2: powered assistance of being, if you like, one of the
Speaker 2: superpowers of ar glasses. And so we're really investing significantly
Speaker 2: in building out the AI systems that see and are
Speaker 2: able to see the world like you do, so that
Speaker 2: they'll be able to help you throughout your day. And
Speaker 2: so those are kind of some of the areas which
Speaker 2: I think are really exciting. But when you then bring
Speaker 2: all that to, you know, closer to our worlds of
Speaker 2: marketing and advertising, we live in such a creative space. Advertisers,
Speaker 2: you know, just love to expand their thinking about, you know,
Speaker 2: what is beyond the physical realm, and so you start
Speaker 2: to see the gears turning with the big ideas as
Speaker 2: a whole new creative canvas for storytelling and information sharing
Speaker 2: as well. And so I think these have got really
Speaker 2: exciting opportunities, not just from a creative standpoint, a financial
Speaker 2: one as well, because businesses are going to be able
Speaker 2: to do things that were not possible before. And from
Speaker 2: our side from a metapuserspective, you know, we're not afraid
Speaker 2: to make those bets, long term bets on emerging technologies.
Speaker 2: We know they're not easy, but I think it's one
Speaker 2: of the most valuable things that a tech company can do,
Speaker 2: and it's ultimately one of the only ways to make
Speaker 2: is relevant over the long term as well.
Speaker 1: That's super exciting and I'm sure there will be plenty
Speaker 1: of discussions also at the upcoming possible conference show in
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks time, across all the different sessions.
Speaker 1: So I'm really looking forward to this and learn more
Speaker 1: about what we really can expect for the daily business
Speaker 1: and not just as a vision but feel for the
Speaker 1: daily business in the next couple of weeks and months, Nikola,
Speaker 1: As we look ahead to twenty twenty five, the rest
Speaker 1: of twenty twenty five or the next twelve months, let's
Speaker 1: say it is obviously global economy is navigating a complex landscape.
Speaker 1: It's a eye driven innovations out there shifting consumer behaviors
Speaker 1: all the time, of course ongoing geopolitical challenges. You wake
Speaker 1: up every morning and think, Okay, what's happening today out
Speaker 1: in the world from your vantage point of mata, what
Speaker 1: key economic trends do you foresee shaping the digital and
Speaker 1: business ecosystem, both globally and maybe specifically in the US.
Speaker 1: And what trends or emerging technologies do you believe will
Speaker 1: shape the future of metas ads business.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so look, overall, from talking to business leaders the
Speaker 2: world over, everybody is focused on growth. You're right, we
Speaker 2: do live on in certain times. But I think businesses
Speaker 2: have got better at planning into an uncertainty and really
Speaker 2: focusing and doubling down on the areas of growth, recognizing
Speaker 2: that the only constant really has changed. And so how
Speaker 2: businesses can adapt to be more agile, to be more flexible,
Speaker 2: to be more nimble, I think is a really really
Speaker 2: important part. I think advertisers are being more even more
Speaker 2: disciplined about looking at the row us when it comes
Speaker 2: to whether deployee their dollars when it comes to marketing,
Speaker 2: and so so much to the conversation at the beginning
Speaker 2: was about the pride that I have in how we're
Speaker 2: able to drive performance and results for businesses all over
Speaker 2: the world and how the you know, the products that
Speaker 2: we're creating actually are allowing. You know, we have a
Speaker 2: stat that is now that for every dollar that is
Speaker 2: put into our ads, it's driving back on average three
Speaker 2: dollars thirty one in revenue for advertisers. That's in the US.
Speaker 2: Similar stat in Europe is that for every three seventy
Speaker 2: nine euros, you know, seem really strong increase as well
Speaker 2: for ever every euro it invested there. So that's where
Speaker 2: I start. People are looking for growth, people recognize uncertainty
Speaker 2: from a meta perspective. I didn't even touch on one
Speaker 2: of our newer apps, which is Threads. Threads is already
Speaker 2: has three hundred and twenty million users on it, which
Speaker 2: is a fantastic thing to see in such in a
Speaker 2: short period of time, and we announced that we just
Speaker 2: started to test very early on the monetization side of
Speaker 2: actually bringing in some very early ad products into Threads,
Speaker 2: which is really exciting. And so one of the things
Speaker 2: that I'm often asked is well, what can I do
Speaker 2: if I don't have that in my country, and most
Speaker 2: countries don't yet. But as a brand, I would say,
Speaker 2: just start to understand what's going on on the platform,
Speaker 2: how people are interacting with the businesses on there already,
Speaker 2: and how you show up there. It is different, it's
Speaker 2: a different experience, So I think that's another exciting area.
Speaker 2: And then the other big trend that I see really
Speaker 2: coming through strong around the world. And you mentioned earlier
Speaker 2: how much you and I both travel, and you'll have
Speaker 2: seen this as well from certainly traveling around Asia and
Speaker 2: Latin America in particular, as well as Europe. Also is
Speaker 2: this trend between businesses and people through WhatsApp. And you know,
Speaker 2: I mentioned earlier that you know, six hundred million messages
Speaker 2: are going between people and businesses every single day. We're
Speaker 2: investing more and more here in order that brands can
Speaker 2: you know, have a more active experience and we can
Speaker 2: help them actually leverage g orre tons in this area.
Speaker 2: It is a different area, but we're also thinking here
Speaker 2: around how we can help on the utility side for
Speaker 2: businesses all the area around things like I don't know,
Speaker 2: if you're an airline, how you have one thread, one
Speaker 2: WhatsApp thread that has everything from you book your ticket,
Speaker 2: you've got your confirmation number, you get told where your
Speaker 2: boarding passes. It's all in one place, makes it very simple.
Speaker 2: We've seen everything now being communicated here, from life insurance
Speaker 2: to e commerce to audio McDonald's in Brazil, all happening
Speaker 2: or on happening on WhatsApp. So I think that's another
Speaker 2: very big area an opportunity for advertisers today.
Speaker 1: I think that was a great answer for this very
Speaker 1: complex question as well, and also kind of a good outlook.
Speaker 1: Maybe the very last one from my end would be
Speaker 1: knowing what we covered in the last thirty minutes or so.
Speaker 1: Is there any final advice for executives and leaders out there,
Speaker 1: coming back to where we started, you know, your personal
Speaker 1: experiences as a leader, is there, especially in these times?
Speaker 1: Is there anything you would share with the audience more
Speaker 1: from a leadership perspective which could help everybody out there
Speaker 1: to do better and to perform better.
Speaker 2: I think it goes back to the beginning actually, which
Speaker 2: makes sure that you're putting yourself as a leader in
Speaker 2: a position to really embrace the new technology that's coming
Speaker 2: thick and fast add us. And actually sometimes that means
Speaker 2: that you've got to dedicate a little bit of time
Speaker 2: to investing in yourself. And whilst I hadn't intended to
Speaker 2: start this off as a plug for a recent conference
Speaker 2: that will be happening very soon, I think having a
Speaker 2: conference like Possible where you can come together with your
Speaker 2: peers in a learning environment with some of the best
Speaker 2: speakers on the planet coming together and some sidebar conversations.
Speaker 2: I know we're dedicating a lot of time at the conference,
Speaker 2: particularly on AI to make sure that the people that
Speaker 2: are coming to the conference can leave there really being
Speaker 2: the leaders in the field to be able to accelerate
Speaker 2: and grow the businesses at a quicker pace than those
Speaker 2: that haven't invested the time. And I think you can
Speaker 2: get away with perhaps not learning every year, but I
Speaker 2: don't think this is a year that you can't afford
Speaker 2: not to be investing in yourself and learning. Such is
Speaker 2: the pace of change of what is happening with AI.
Speaker 2: I love it, I'm nergize by it, I'm excited about it.
Speaker 2: But to be an environment where you can share and
Speaker 2: discuss and debate with your peers, I think there's nothing
Speaker 2: better than that. So that would probably be my final advice.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Nicholas. Thank you so much. What a great
Speaker 1: closing statement and what a great conversation we've had. Thank
Speaker 1: you for your time. I'm sure your insides, your energy,
Speaker 1: your passion made it a very interesting conversation for the
Speaker 1: audience out there as well. And I'm really looking forward
Speaker 1: to see you in Miami in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: Thank you Christian, and yeah, looking forward to it.
Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning in everyone. Once again, I'm your host,
Speaker 1: Christian Moher. If you have a question or suggestion to
Speaker 1: me reach out, send me the m on LinkedIn is
Speaker 1: to learn more about Possible, sign up for our newsletter,
Speaker 1: or if you want to join us at the Possible
Speaker 1: Show in Miami, visit Possible event dot com. Possible Now
Speaker 1: is a co production of iHeartMedia and Possible. Our executive
Speaker 1: producers are Ryan Martz and Yasmin Melandez. Our supervising producer
Speaker 1: is Meredith Barnes. Special thanks to Colleen Lawrence Mack from
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