Mark Zuckerberg's longest-serving employee on AI, jobs - and her boss

["When Naomi Gleit joined Meta nearly 20 years ago, she was just the 29th employee. Today, she is the company's longest-serving staff member, apart from founder Mark Zuckerberg. Gleit, now head of product, has witnessed the transformation of Facebook into Meta and has navigated the company through various storms and controversies.

In an interview with the BBC, Gleit described working at Meta as her 'dream job', a sentiment she shared even when her family was skeptical about her decision two decades ago. Her mother, for instance, had wanted her to work for Lehman Brothers, which later collapsed in 2008, triggering a global financial crisis.", "Gleit acknowledges that Meta has had its share of challenges, including moments where the company 'didn't meet our standards' or missed the mark. However, she expressed pride in the company's accomplishments and defended Facebook's infamous 'move fast and break things' motto, calling it a 'misunderstood value in isolation'.

Gleit also came to Zuckerberg's defense, suggesting that his reputation as a tech bro bad guy is 'unfair'. According to Gleit, Zuckerberg is a great husband and father of three, and his leadership has been 'incredible' to watch. When asked about Zuckerberg as a boss, Gleit paused before describing him as 'awesome', a response that might come up in her appraisal.", "Gleit recently visited the UK to discuss Meta's latest disruptor: AI agents.

These advanced chatbots can not only answer questions but also carry out tasks. Meta plans to incorporate AI agents into WhatsApp, which has 3.5 billion users worldwide, including hundreds of millions of business users. The company will charge firms to have AI agents manage their WhatsApp chats with customers, providing 24/7 support and business insights.

Gleit believes AI agents can be 'superpowers' for small firms, helping them cope with the volume of messages they receive and interact with customers more effectively.", "Despite the potential benefits, concerns abound about the reliability of AI agents and their potential for erratic behavior. Earlier this week, Meta had to fix an issue that allowed hackers to trick an Instagram AI support tool into giving them access to other users' accounts. Gleit insists that safety is the company's top priority and that the issue was unrelated to the agent itself.

She is optimistic about the creation of new jobs, citing her own role as a product manager, which didn't exist when she was growing up. Gleit advises young people to 'be curious' and learn new skills, as AI continues to transform the workforce. She notes that she has even started coding for the first time in her life, thanks to AI, and Zuckerberg, who was coding when she met him, has also returned to coding.", "Meta has recently laid off 10% of its employees while investing more in AI.