Clara Shih
Born 1982 · Age 43
American technology entrepreneur and executive; co-founder and former CEO of Hearsay Social; board member of Starbucks; executive roles at Salesforce; in Nov 2024 appointed to lead Business AI at Meta Platforms. Author of two books on social business.
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Life & Career Timeline
Family emigrated to the United States (Akron, Ohio)
Shih and her family moved from Hong Kong to Akron, Ohio when she was four years old.
Placed in special classes for speech/ESL support
In elementary school she was initially placed in special classes for students with speech impediments because the school lacked an ESL program.
Family relocated to Chicago
Shih's family moved from Akron to the Chicago area (Arlington Heights/Chicago region noted in sources).
Scored 1420 on SAT in eighth grade
While in eighth grade Shih scored a 1420 (out of 1600) on the SAT, an early academic achievement noted in biographies.
Programmer at Fermilab (K–12 physics materials)
At age 15 she helped develop materials in K–12 physics education at Fermilab, working as a programmer.
Named a Presidential Scholar; graduated high school (IMSA)
Graduated from Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy and was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar (class of 2000).
Matriculated at Stanford University
Began undergraduate studies at Stanford (majored in computer science; highly active in student organizations).
Co-founded Stanford Engineering Public Service Center
Co-founded the Stanford Engineering Public Service Center (student-run initiative during her undergraduate years).
Founded Camp Amelia Technology Literacy Group
Started Camp Amelia, a student-run nonprofit producing educational software for underserved communities and partnering internationally.
Microsoft internship — developed RSS aggregator for Outlook
Interned at Microsoft (named a Microsoft Women's Scholar) and worked on the RSS news aggregator for Outlook.
Named an Anita Borg (Google) Scholar
Selected as an Anita Borg Scholar (now Women Techmakers Scholar) in the inaugural class (recognition for women in CS-related fields).
Graduated Stanford with BS and MS in Computer Science (coterminal)
Completed both a bachelor's degree (first in class/with honors per some bios) and a master's in computer science through Stanford's coterminal program (2005).
Named a Marshall Scholar
Awarded a Marshall Scholarship to study in the UK after completing Stanford degrees.
Completed MSc in Internet Studies at Oxford (OII)
Received a master's degree in Internet Studies from the Oxford Internet Institute (Marshall Scholar).
Worked in corporate strategy & ops at Google (Oxford period)
While at Oxford she stayed in England and worked in corporate strategy and business operations for Google.
Joined Salesforce.com as founding AppExchange product marketer
Joined Salesforce (role described as founding product marketer/director for AppExchange), early role in Salesforce's marketplace/product team.
Built 'Faceforce' — first business app for Facebook
As a side project at Salesforce she developed Faceforce, an application connecting Facebook with Salesforce to surface Facebook contact info in CRM.
Recruited Steve Garrity to collaborate on social CRM work
Brought former Microsoft classmate Steve Garrity into the project that would become Hearsay Social.
Co-founded Hearsay Social (later Hearsay Systems) and became CEO
Co-founded Hearsay Social with Steve Garrity to help enterprises manage social media marketing and advisor/client engagement; initially run from her apartment.
Published 'The Facebook Era' (Prentice Hall)
Authored The Facebook Era: Tapping Online Social Networks to Build Better Products..., published in 2009; became a New York Times bestseller.
Expanded 2nd edition of 'The Facebook Era' published
An expanded second edition of The Facebook Era was released (used as a textbook at some business schools).
Married Daniel Chao
Married Daniel Chao, a health technology entrepreneur (sources list marriage year as 2011).
Elected to Starbucks board of directors
Elected to the Starbucks board in December 2011, replacing Sheryl Sandberg on the board.
Served on the Ad Council board (start)
Began serving on the Ad Council board of directors (term noted 2012–2014 in sources).
Named to Fortune and Ad Age '40 Under 40'
Recognized in Fortune's 40 Under 40 and Ad Age's 40 Under 40 lists (2012).
Hearsay raised over $50 million in investment (2013)
Hearsay Systems raised more than $50M in venture funding and was backed by investors including Sequoia Capital; positioned as a leading provider to banks and insurers.
Named a Young Global Leader (World Economic Forum)
Recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum (listed among honorees; sources cite around this period).
Began advising & investing in startups (ongoing)
Acted as investor/advisor to multiple startups including BirdEye, Clarify Health, Color Genomics, Goldieblox, Gusto, Jewelbots, and Work4 beginning around 2013.
Concluded Ad Council board service (2014)
Ended service on the Ad Council board (sources indicate service between 2012 and 2014).
Published 'The Social Business Imperative' (Prentice Hall)
Released second book, The Social Business Imperative: Adapting Your Business Model to the Always-Connected Customer.
Hearsay operations expanded internationally
Hearsay Systems grew operations across the U.S., Asia, and Europe and established itself as a leading provider of client engagement solutions for financial services (milestone referenced across bios).
Transitioned to Executive Chairperson of Hearsay
In 2020 Shih moved from CEO to the role of executive chairperson at Hearsay Systems.
Rejoined Salesforce as CEO of Service Cloud
After an 11-year hiatus, Shih rejoined Salesforce in February 2021 as CEO of the Service Cloud CRM business, replacing Bill Patterson in that role.
Appointed CEO of Salesforce AI
Promoted to lead Salesforce's AI organization as CEO of Salesforce AI in May 2023 (executive-level AI leadership role).
Named to Time100 AI list
Included in Time's Time100 AI recognitions (profiled Sept 7, 2023).
Recognized by Gold House A100
Named one of the most impactful Asians by Gold House (A100 honoree, 2024).
Named Chairperson & Former CEO status at Hearsay
Listed in bios as chairperson and former CEO of Hearsay Social (Hearsay Systems), reflecting board/executive transition and ongoing governance role.
Recognized across multiple 'influential' lists (cumulative)
Over her career Shih has been named Fortune's 'Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs', Fast Company's 'Most Influential People in Technology', Businessweek's 'Top Young Entrepreneurs' and others (dates span 2010s–2020s).
Left Salesforce and joined Meta to lead Business AI
Departed Salesforce in November 2024 to lead Meta Platforms' newly formed Business AI group (Axios scoop reported Nov 19, 2024).
Key Achievement Ages
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