Craig Saldanha, Yelp’s Chief Product Officer, is at the forefront of transforming how consumers connect with local businesses, bringing nearly two decades of expertise in product leadership and engineering to the company. After successful stints at Amazon and Intel, where he played pivotal roles in product and engineering, Craig joined Yelp in 2022 with a mission to innovate its offerings, especially by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into the user experience. His leadership experience, particularly with Prime Video and Kindle at Amazon, has positioned him to drive Yelp’s next phase of technological advancement.
Under Craig’s leadership, Yelp has accelerated its AI initiatives, focusing on enhancing user interactions through machine learning models and large language models (LLMs). The company’s recent efforts, such as AI-powered summaries and a new AI assistant, aim to streamline the process of connecting consumers with local businesses. One of the key differentiators Craig sees for Yelp in the AI race is the vast trove of authentic, user-generated reviews that the platform has accumulated. By applying AI to parse these reviews quickly and precisely, Yelp is offering a more personalized experience for users, whether they're searching for a specialized spice or a new local service provider.
Craig is particularly excited about Yelp’s future direction, with plans to further integrate AI into both consumer and business-side features. One such development is Yelp Fusion API, which allows third-party platforms to access Yelp’s vast content, bringing local business insights to new audiences. Craig’s work at Yelp is not only pushing the boundaries of AI in local discovery but also ensuring that Yelp maintains its commitment to authenticity in reviews. As Yelp continues to evolve, Craig's vision for AI is helping the platform become an even more integral part of the local discovery landscape, while always prioritizing consumer trust and seamless connections.