Zoom's CEO thinks your meetings could be better

Eric Yuan, who saw the firm he founded become a household name during the pandemic, is trying to change the way people use the platform.

- Jordyn Holman

Eric Yuan, the chief executive of Zoom, says he doesn't dwell on the past. During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when work, school and social events shifted online, Zoom prospered. It became a household name, and investors flocked to its stock. In October 2020, Zoom's market value reached about $160 billion, worth more than Exxon Mobil, IBM and many other blue-chip companies at the time.

Mr Yuan says he knew those times wouldn't last. "During Covid, a lot of unsustainable new use cases were created," he said.

The company's stock has fallen more than 80% from its peak, back to around where it was before the pandemic. Workers are back in the office, and students are back in classrooms. The company's brand recognition remains high, but in some ways it has started to lose meaning: People say "Let's Zoom" and then send a link to Microsoft Teams or Google Meet.

Mr Yuan, who founded the company in 2011 and became a billionaire as it rose to prominence, is now trying to get people to consider Zoom as more than a videoconference platform. Like most firms in Silicon Valley, it is all in on artificial intelligence, which Mr Yuan believes one day will allow humans to work just three or four days a week.

"We need to reinvent ourselves and think forward," Mr Yuan, 55, said. "I really do not look back anymore."

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

During the pandemic, Zoom reached heights that other companies could only dream of. What do you make of that period when you look back on it?

I sincerely wish it never happened. Not good for society. Except that Zoom became a word, everything else was not sustainable.

Prior to Covid, we had a great culture. During Covid, because our traffic grew, we had to hire more than 6,000 people within an 18-month window. Company culture was broken.

But one thing we feel very proud of is we did not let the world down.