Meta taps AI executive Connor Hayes to lead Threads come September

Meta is handing off Threads to Connor Hayes, a longtime AI executive, marking the first time someone outside Instagram will lead the text-based social app. The leadership change, effective September 2025, signals Meta’s growing commitment to treating Threads as a standalone platform rather than just an Instagram sidekick.

What you should know: Hayes brings deep AI expertise to a platform that’s been experimenting with AI-generated content in users’ feeds.
• Hayes previously served as head of generative AI product at Meta and was part of the original team that built the first version of Threads.
• He’s been with Meta since 2011, holding product roles across Instagram and Facebook.
• Once onboarded in mid-September, Hayes will manage all product, design, engineering, and research teams working on Threads while still reporting to Instagram chief Adam Mosseri.

Why this matters: The move comes as Threads continues gaining ground against X, with recent data showing the app averaging around 115 million mobile daily active users compared to X’s 132 million.
• Despite lagging behind X in global web traffic, Threads has been bridging the gap on mobile platforms.
• Putting a generative AI executive in charge could hint at Meta’s plans to use Threads as a testing ground for AI features before rolling them out to other Meta apps.

What they’re saying: Instagram head Adam Mosseri acknowledged the need for dedicated leadership in a Thursday staff memo.
• “Given Threads’ maturity, we think we need a dedicated app lead who can focus all of their time on helping Threads move forward,” Mosseri said.

The big picture: This leadership transition represents Meta’s evolving strategy for Threads, which launched in 2023 under Mosseri’s oversight as Instagram head.
• The appointment of an AI specialist suggests Meta may be positioning Threads as a laboratory for AI-driven social media features.
• With Threads still relatively small compared to other Meta apps, the platform could serve as an ideal testbed for experimental AI capabilities.