Clara Shih, now head of business AI at Meta, speaks during the 2024 Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, California, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
HubSpot (HUBS) announced Wednesday the appointment of Clara Shih, Meta’s (META) head of business AI, to its Board of Directors. This strategic move signals HubSpot’s commitment to aggressively integrating artificial intelligence into its platform and leveraging Shih’s deep understanding of AI’s application in business.
Shih joined Meta last year, spearheading the development of AI tools designed specifically for business applications, including the recently launched Business AI – a digital assistant poised to redefine customer engagement and operational efficiency. Her prior experience includes a significant tenure at Salesforce (CRM), where she served as CEO of Salesforce AI.
HubSpot, while a significant player in the CRM space, faces a market grappling with concerns about the disruptive potential of AI. Despite the broader tech sector’s AI-fueled surge, HubSpot’s stock is down 34% year-to-date, contrasting sharply with the Nasdaq’s 22% gain. LSEG analysts anticipate a deceleration in revenue growth for the company in both 2025 and 2026.
The appointment of Shih underscores HubSpot’s renewed focus on AI as a key driver of both efficiency and sustained expansion. The company, like its competitors in the cloud software arena, is actively seeking to demonstrate AI’s transformative potential to investors.
“Clara is a remarkable leader who deeply understands both the transformative potential of AI and the realities of how go-to-market teams operate,” stated Yamini Rangan, CEO of HubSpot, in an official release. “Her experience building and scaling AI products, from foundational model platforms to customer-facing applications, will be invaluable as HubSpot continues to embed AI across our customer platform.”
Prior to her role as CEO of Salesforce AI, Shih led Salesforce’s Service Cloud unit, where she spearheaded the expansion of generative AI capabilities through the launch of Einstein GPT and Agentforce, an AI agent developer platform. This experience gives her a unique perspective on developing and deploying enterprise-grade AI solutions.
Before joining Salesforce, Shih co-founded Hearsay Social in 2009 and served as CEO until transitioning to the role of executive chairperson in 2020. Her entrepreneurial background and proven ability to build successful SaaS businesses further strengthen her credentials.
“HubSpot has a unique opportunity to help millions of scaling businesses harness the power of AI to drive growth,” Shih stated in the release, highlighting the significant potential she sees in the company’s future direction.
In February, HubSpot introduced its own AI-powered tool designed to enhance brand awareness analysis across AI search engines. Furthermore, the recent acquisition of XFunnel, a platform focused on optimizing business presence on AI search engines, further solidifies HubSpot’s commitment to leading the charge in AI-driven marketing and sales solutions. This acquisition indicates a proactive strategy to integrate emerging AI search technologies into their existing ecosystem.
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