Snapchat Parent Promotes Ajit Mohan to Chief Business Officer

Snap Inc. appointed Ajit Mohan to run its advertising department as chief business officer through a February 4 announcement.

Mohan has taken on responsibility to expand Snap's worldwide advertising business while directing revenue product operations to enhance commercial partner service throughout the organization according to Snap investor documentation.

Mohan took over the Asia Pacific (APAC) role at Snap in November 2022 to lead business operations across India, Australia and New Zealand, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Korea markets. A new senior position for regional leadership emerged when Snap adopted this organizational structure to establish president roles across the Americas EMEA and APAC divisions.

Snap Inc. brought Mohan on board to drive business expansion across the APAC region since this demographic represents over 75% of the 13-year-old smartphone user base which currently does not use Snapchat. The application targets smartphone-using users between 13 and 34 years old.

Snap stated that Mohan promptly developed significant business operations throughout the region in their letter. The number of users in India especially attracts Snapchat because it reached 200 million monthly active users in that market.

Throughout four years at Facebook parent Meta Mohan functioned as the vice president and India managing director before starting work at Snap. Mohan became the initial India country chief who delivered his reports directly to Menlo Park headquarters at Meta instead of working through the Asia Pacific headquarters.

Mohan took the post of CEO for Hotstar (later renamed to Disney+ Hotstar) under Star India (now Disney Star) from 2015 until 2019. During his leadership he established the streaming service which became the dominant force in India’s growing video streaming industry.

Mohan involved in multiple positions at Star India television business as it advanced to senior vice president and then executive vice president. His professional journey predates his Star India leadership by working at McKinsey and Arthur D Little.

Snap's advertising rebound

Mohan took over amid Snap's recovery of advertising revenue because the company directed itself toward direct-response ads instead of brand advertising.

Revenue at Snap increased by 16 percent from the previous year (YoY) to $5.36 billion during 2024 because direct-response advertisements contributed significantly to this yearly revenue growth at 16 percent year-over-year. The company generated a net loss of $698 million in 2024 compared to the $1.32 billion financial deficit it reported in 2023.

The Q4 total revenue for Snap reached $1.56 billion with a YoY increase of 14 percent. Total advertising revenue generated $1.41 billion in 2024 marking a ten percent growth year-over-year. This increase stemmed mainly from direct-response advertising revenue since it grew 14 percent year-over-year. The continued weakness of North American brand-oriented advertisements among a few large clients caused the revenue to decrease by 1 percent year over year according to the company.

The company achieved a net income of $9 million within this quarter although it recorded a net loss of $248 million during the same time period last year.

Per the investor letter Snap noted that their SMB (small- and medium-size businesses) client segment experienced strong growth worldwide as the company strives for a performance-based advertising business with more diversity.

SMBs became the major revenue growth segment for 2024 due to enhanced direct-response products along with optimized go-to-market strategies designed for SMB customers and simplified buying processes for ads it explained.

The fourth quarter statistics indicated that SMBs showed more than double growth in total active advertisers according to Snap's report.

During the quarter Snapchat gained 39 million people using their platform each day to reach a total DAU count of 453 million which demonstrates a 9 percent improvement over the previous year.

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