Paramount hires – Paramount’s Skydance has named former Google AI language leader Barak Turovsky as EVP and Head of Consumer AI, charging him with growing its AI/ML team and applying AI to Paramount+ and Pluto TV—from personalization and discovery to monetization and new intera
Paramount’s AI push just moved from strategy to staffing—and the choice of leader is meant to signal speed.
On Monday afternoon. Dane Glasgow. Paramount’s product chief. told tech staffers that Barak Turovsky is joining the company as the head of consumer AI.. Turovsky is joining David Ellison’s company as EVP and Head of Consumer AI. with Glasgow saying the hire will “supercharge” Paramount’s transformation as it uses AI “meaningfully drive” growth.
In the same email obtained by Business Insider, Glasgow laid out what Turovsky will own. He will be responsible for growing Paramount’s AI/ML team and for exploring ways to leverage AI across Paramount’s streaming businesses—specifically Paramount+ and free streamer Pluto TV.
Glasgow listed the areas where that work is expected to show up for viewers and for the business: personalization, content discovery, platform intelligence, consumer engagement, and monetization capabilities.
The memo also underscored how Paramount is already trying to translate AI into product decisions.. Paramount+ rolled out a short-form video feed. and the company is developing interactive features that include a shopping tool and another centered on sports stats.. The company is also looking to put video podcasts on Paramount+.
Engineering efforts are increasingly matching the consumer plan.. Paramount software engineers told Business Insider that they are using AI more frequently. and one said they had used eight to 10 agents at a time to knock out tasks.. That employee added that “Paramount is getting better” at implementing tech. while still “catching up” to companies like Netflix and Google.
Glasgow said the company’s goal with the hire is to attract top talent as it leans further into AI. “Barak Turovsky is joining Paramount as our EVP and Head of Consumer AI,” Glasgow wrote in the memo, adding that Turovsky will report directly to him.
The appointment also reshapes internal reporting. In the email, Glasgow said Robert Dumoulin, Paramount’s SVP of Applied Intelligence, will now report to Turovsky.
Paramount’s staffing changes come as the company prepares for a broader technical reorganization.. The company will restructure its tech organization when CTO Phil Wiser steps down at the end of the month. Business Insider reported on Friday.. Paramount will not replace Wiser, and instead four key executives will report directly to Glasgow.
Turovsky’s background is positioned as the backbone for this consumer-facing push.. In Glasgow’s memo. he said that at Google. Turovsky led the Languages AI product organization responsible for commercializing AI technologies across Google Search. Ads. YouTube. Cloud. Translate. Android. and other products.. The memo also says he spearheaded product efforts behind the industry’s first large-scale commercial deployment of large language models and Transformers-based technology.
Before this new role at Paramount. Glasgow said Turovsky most recently worked at General Motors. and he previously held positions at Cisco. PayPal. SAP. and IBM.. Glasgow also said that later. he led senior AI-focused roles at both General Motors and Cisco—research. engineering. and product teams developing solutions and technologies.
Paramount’s AI leadership momentum also echoes earlier moves around the executive suite.. Ellison’s company recently hired fellow former Google executive Hugh Williams as an EVP and an “Executive in Residence.” Last fall. Glasgow joined Paramount from Meta. and revenue chief Jay Askinasi came on board from Roku.
As the company looks further down the chain, job listings for lead software engineers with experience building “intelligent automation systems” point to more hiring aimed at AI capabilities.
And with Turovsky now in place. Paramount’s ambitions are set to be measured less by announcements and more by how quickly AI features appear in the places viewers use every day—on Paramount+ and Pluto TV—through the personalization. discovery. engagement. and monetization tools Glasgow told employees his new hire will explore.
Paramount Skydance Barak Turovsky consumer AI AI/ML team Paramount+ Pluto TV Dane Glasgow Robert Dumoulin Phil Wiser Hugh Williams Jay Askinasi