Clara Shih facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Clara Shih
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Shih in 2010
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| Born | January 11, 1982 |
| Alma mater | Stanford University (B.S., M.Sc.) University of Oxford (M.Sc.) |
| Occupation | CEO of Hearsay Social |
| Board member of | Starbucks Ad Council |
| Spouse(s) |
Daniel Chao
(m. 2011) |
| Clara Shih | |||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 史宗瑋 | ||||||
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Clara Chung-wai Shih (born January 11, 1982) is an American businesswoman. She is known for creating new software and leading technology companies. Clara co-founded Hearsay Social in 2009, a company that helps businesses use social media. Since November 2024, she has been leading the Business AI (Artificial Intelligence) group at Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook and Instagram.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Clara Shih was born in Hong Kong. Her family moved to Arlington Heights, Illinois, in the United States when she was four years old. Her father was a math professor and later an electrical engineer. Her mother was an art and special-education teacher.
School Days
When Clara was in elementary school, she learned English as a second language. By eighth grade, she showed her strong academic skills by scoring very high on the SAT test.
She attended the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, a special high school for talented students. There, she was very active. She played tennis, played in the orchestra, wrote for the school newspaper, and joined the debate team. She also helped immigrants learn English. At just 15, Clara helped develop teaching materials for physics at Fermilab, a famous science laboratory. She graduated in 2000 as a Presidential Scholar, which is a high honor for students.
University Studies
Clara went to Stanford University. She helped start a public service center for engineering students. She was also a leader in several student groups, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
While at Stanford, Clara founded a non-profit group called Camp Amelia Technology Literacy Group. This group created software to help improve basic education in communities that needed it most. She also interned at Microsoft, where she helped develop a news reader for Outlook. In her free time, she volunteered in East Palo Alto, California. She taught young students from low-income families about math, science, and technology.
Clara studied economics and computer science. She earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees from Stanford in 2005. After Stanford, she received a special scholarship called the Marshall Scholarship. This allowed her to study at the University of Oxford in England. She earned another master's degree, this time in Internet studies.
Career Journey
After finishing her studies at Oxford, Clara Shih began her career in technology. She has worked for several major companies and also started her own successful business.
Starting at Google and Salesforce
Clara first worked at Google in England, focusing on company strategy. In 2006, she joined Salesforce.com, a company that makes software for businesses. There, she helped launch a new product called AppExchange.
As a side project, Clara built a business application on Facebook. She called it "Faceforce." This application became very popular. Because of its success, she teamed up with her old classmate, Steve Garrity, to create a new company.
Founding Hearsay Social
In 2009, Clara Shih co-founded Hearsay Social. She served as its chief executive officer (CEO) for many years. Hearsay Social helps financial advisors and insurance agents connect with their customers online. In 2020, she became the executive chairperson of Hearsay, still guiding the company.
Her achievements have been recognized with several awards. She was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. She was also featured on Fortune magazine's "40 Under 40" list in 2012.
Leadership at Starbucks and Salesforce Again
In 2011, Clara was elected to the board of directors for Starbucks, the famous coffee company. This meant she helped make important decisions for Starbucks.
In 2021, Clara returned to Salesforce.com. She became the CEO of Service Cloud, a part of Salesforce that helps companies manage customer service. In 2023, she was promoted to CEO of Salesforce AI, focusing on artificial intelligence.
Joining Meta Platforms
In November 2024, Clara Shih left Salesforce to join Meta Platforms. At Meta, she now leads the new Business AI group. This role involves using artificial intelligence to help businesses grow on Meta's platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Personal Life
Clara Shih is married to Daniel Chao, who is also an entrepreneur in health technology. They live in San Francisco, California.
