EPISODE · Jul 15, 2025 · 54 MIN
Voices 034 - “It’s All About That Little Delight”: Ex-Google Exec Maria Zhang on AI, Leadership & Bringing Tech to Pizza
from EVOLVE Podcasts | Global Commerce Insights · host EVOLVE Commerce Club
Join our newsletter! Our community insights, global commerce perspectives, sent to your inbox every Weekend: https://evolvecommunity.beehiiv.com/subscribeWant to join the #01 community of senior commerce leaders spanning 43 markets? Request your application today: https://www.evolve-community.com/In this episode our host Edilsa Bueno, talks with Maria Zhang.Maria Zhang’s journey from founder to engineering executive is a testament to her belief that great software should serve people. From her early days unboxing a computer to leading the team behind Reels, Maria has championed building with intention.In this episode, she reflects on what it takes to lead high-performing teams, how delight drives better products, and why listening to customers—and your engineers—matters more than ever. We talk about the tech innovations powering the pizza industry, how she coins vibe revenue as a new way to think about AI, and how cooking helps her reset outside the pressure of scale.Maria is the founder of Palona, her latest AI venture. She previously served as VP of Engineering at Google, VP/GM of AI for Products at Meta, and CTO of Tinder. Earlier in her career, she founded Alike, acquired by Yahoo in 2013.For more on Palona and Maria’s work, visit https://palona.ai👉 Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and leave a review if you enjoyed this episode!
What this episode covers
Join our newsletter! Our community insights, global commerce perspectives, sent to your inbox every Weekend: https://evolvecommunity.beehiiv.com/subscribeWant to join the #01 community of senior commerce leaders spanning 43 markets? Request your application today: https://www.evolve-community.com/In this episode our host Edilsa Bueno, talks with Maria Zhang.Maria Zhang’s journey from founder to engineering executive is a testament to her belief that great software should serve people. From her early days unboxing a computer to leading the team behind Reels, Maria has championed building with intention.In this episode, she reflects on what it takes to lead high-performing teams, how delight drives better products, and why listening to customers—and your engineers—matters more than ever. We talk about the tech innovations powering the pizza industry, how she coins vibe revenue as a new way to think about AI, and how cooking helps her reset outside the pressure of scale.Maria is the founder of Palona, her latest AI venture. She previously served as VP of Engineering at Google, VP/GM of AI for Products at Meta, and CTO of Tinder. Earlier in her career, she founded Alike, acquired by Yahoo in 2013.For more on Palona and Maria’s work, visit https://palona.ai👉 Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and leave a review if you enjoyed this episode!
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Voices 034 - “It’s All About That Little Delight”: Ex-Google Exec Maria Zhang on AI, Leadership & Bringing Tech to Pizza
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