Pinterest is executing a significant leadership restructuring aimed at accelerating its transformation into a global shopping destination powered by artificial intelligence. The platform has appointed Claudine Cheever, Amazon’s former vice president of global brand and marketing, as its new chief marketing officer, while simultaneously creating a first-ever chief business officer role filled by Lee Brown, a veteran executive from DoorDash and Spotify.
The dual appointments arrive at a pivotal moment for the 15-year-old social platform, which has grown to 600 million monthly active users under CEO Bill Ready’s leadership since 2022. Ready, who previously served as PayPal’s chief operating officer before leading commerce initiatives at Google, has been systematically repositioning Pinterest as a performance-driven advertising platform distinct from traditional social networks.
Cheever brings a decade of marketing expertise from Amazon, where she oversaw campaigns and brand strategy for the world’s largest online retailer. Her tenure included directing five Super Bowl campaigns and launching flagship AI-powered products like Alexa. At Pinterest, she oversees global marketing, creative, and communications with a mandate to articulate the platform’s unique value proposition to both consumers and marketers during a period of significant platform evolution.
The new CMO’s appointment reflects Pinterest’s strategic pivot away from being perceived as merely a social platform. In her announcement, Cheever emphasized that Pinterest operates fundamentally differently from competitors because it is rooted in user intention rather than reaction. Users come to Pinterest deliberately to save, curate interests, and shop, creating what she described as “a more thoughtful and meaningful way to connect brands with people.” This distinction positions the platform to reach consumers “at the exact moment when inspiration turns into action,” offering what Cheever characterized as “marketing that is additive and helpful to people.”
Lee Brown’s appointment as chief business officer consolidates previously distributed responsibilities under a single leader. His role now encompasses sales, content, advertising product marketing, programmatic operations, and customer-facing operations, directly supporting Ready’s vision of integrating all customer interactions during a period of expanding revenue opportunities. Brown’s background scaling advertising at Spotify and leading revenue operations at DoorDash positions him to accelerate Pinterest’s monetization efforts globally, particularly in international markets that currently represent only 25 percent of revenue despite accounting for 83 percent of the user base.
The restructuring signals Pinterest’s commitment to capturing Gen-Z consumers and their shopping behaviors through visual search and AI-powered discovery tools. The platform has invested heavily in visual-first artificial intelligence, including Pinterest Assistant, AI-powered board updates, and enhanced visual search capabilities. Additionally, the company acquired tvScientific and launched content initiatives like “Bring My Pinterest to Life” to diversify revenue streams.
Cheever’s role extends beyond traditional marketing functions to communicating a broader narrative about the platform’s values. Ready emphasized that Cheever will help convey that “there is a viable business in positivity,” positioning Pinterest as distinct from platforms reliant on engagement driven by negativity or invasive personalization. This messaging proves particularly important as Wall Street has maintained cautious sentiment toward Pinterest’s stock due to broader advertising market concerns.
The platform has already begun developing consumer campaigns that highlight Pinterest as a visual search platform positively impacting users’ lives. This strategic positioning aligns with Pinterest’s support for phone bans in schools and its broader commitment to mental wellbeing, particularly among younger audiences. Cheever aims to help marketers understand that Pinterest can now “automate and personalize relevance in a way that feels enriching and useful, rather than invasive.”
Both executives report directly to Ready, streamlining decision-making as Pinterest pursues aggressive international expansion and continued platform monetization. The company is scheduled to release fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings results on February 12, providing investors an opportunity to assess early impacts of these leadership changes on financial performance.
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