Facebook hires ex-Google VP Regina Dugan to head new group
Mark Zukerberg, CEO of Facebook announced that the company will start a new group in the company called “Building 8” , which will be focused on building new hardware products with a mission to connect the world. This new team will be headed by Regina Dugan, whose most recent job was at Google, where she was the VP for Advanced Technology and Projects. She was also the former Director of DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)
Zukerberg, who made the announcement on a facebook post said “I'm excited to have Regina apply DARPA-style breakthrough development at the intersection of science and products to our mission. This method is characterized by aggressive, fixed timelines, extensive use of partnerships with universities, small and large businesses, and clear objectives for shipping products at scale.” Having unveiled a 10 year roadmap for the company at the F8 conference, he added that the company “...will be investing hundreds of people and hundreds of millions of dollars into this effort over the next few years. I'm excited to see breakthroughs on our 10 year roadmap in augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence, connectivity and other important areas.”
Commenting on the move, Dugan wrote, "I am on the one hand, tremendously excited. Building 8 is an opportunity to do what I love most... tech infused with a sense of our humanity. Audacious science delivered at scale in products that feel almost magic. A little badass. And beautiful. There is much to build at Facebook... and the mission is human... compelling. I am sad to leave the pirates of ATAP...Each of our efforts to create new, seemingly impossible products, has been faced with intense challenges along the way. Technical challenges. Organizational challenges. Challenges that might have broken lesser teams. This is the type of work we signed up for when we built ATAP. It is terrifying because it means we have to face our fear of failure, stare it down, more days than most. So be it."