Mark Zuckerberg reveals why he picked Kunal Shah to lead WhatsApp, calls him top entrepreneur

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has explained why he chose CRED founder Kunal Shah to lead WhatsApp, saying he sees an opportunity to bring fresh entrepreneurial thinking to the messaging platform and do more with its massive user base in India.Speaking on the Cheeky Pint podcast with Meta's chief AI officer Alexandr Wang, Zuckerberg said Shah was one of India's top entrepreneurs and pointed to his experience building CRED. He also revealed what he wants to achieve with the appointment - WhatsApp needs to do more in commerce, and he believes Shah can help the platform explore that opportunity."We brought in this guy Kunal Shah, who, you know, it's like, I think he's like one of the top entrepreneurs in India, building this great company CRED," Zuckerberg said.He added that Shah was now running WhatsApp, a platform he had always felt could do more in commerce. "India is the biggest country that we're in," Zuckerberg said, explaining why the market was particularly important to Meta. Zuckerberg also clarified that bringing Shah on board was different from the company's effort to rebuild its artificial intelligence program. Meta had made sweeping changes to its AI operations, but WhatsApp did not need a similar overhaul to benefit from an outside entrepreneur."We just wanted to bring more entrepreneurial energy there," Zuckerberg said.What does Zuckerberg want Kunal Shah to do with WhatsApp? The focus on commerce is important because WhatsApp is already deeply embedded in the daily lives of Indians, from personal conversations to interactions between customers and businesses. Meta now wants to explore how the platform can do more than connect people through messages.For instance, WhatsApp could offer businesses more ways to engage with customers, help users discover and purchase products, and make its commercial services more useful. Payments and other financial services are also potential areas of opportunity, given Shah's experience in India's fintech sector. These are possible directions for the platform, rather than specific plans Zuckerberg announced during the podcast.WhatsApp already offers business messaging tools and payment services in India. However, having a huge audience does not automatically mean the platform can turn all those users into customers for its commercial offerings.That is where Shah's experience could prove useful. He founded CRED in 2018, building a fintech company around credit card bill payments and rewards before expanding into other financial services. His experience in developing consumer-facing products gives him a background that could help Meta explore new ways to make WhatsApp more useful to users and businesses.Zuckerberg's comments suggest that he wants someone who can identify opportunities and build on them, rather than simply manage an established messaging service.Why did Meta choose an entrepreneur from India?India's importance to the appointment goes beyond Shah's roots in the country's startup ecosystem. It is WhatsApp's biggest market, making it central to Meta's plans to expand the platform's commercial business.Zuckerberg specifically pointed to India's importance while explaining why he wanted Shah to take charge. His comments suggest that Meta sees considerable room to develop WhatsApp's business in a market where the app already has an enormous reach.Shah's experience also extends beyond CRED. Before founding the fintech startup, he built FreeCharge, a digital payments company that was acquired by Snapdeal. He has also invested in and advised several startups, giving him experience across different parts of India's technology ecosystem.Meta announced Shah's appointment in June, alongside a $900 million investment in CRED. He is taking over from Will Cathcart, who led WhatsApp for nearly seven years and oversaw its growth into a service with more than three billion users worldwide.When the appointment was announced, Zuckerberg praised Shah for building CRED into one of India's most important technology companies. He also cited the entrepreneur's "builder mentality and global perspective" as qualities that would help him run WhatsApp.- Ends