When Jackie H. made the decision to step into her current role as the Director of Product Management for Wearables Generative AI at Meta, she had no idea how pivotal her choice would be.
“Some of the best career moves I’ve made weren’t obvious at the time, including the decision to lead the Wearables AI team,” she says. Working with a new and emerging technology, Jackie “saw an opportunity to explore uncharted territory and drive innovation in a rapidly evolving field.”
Jackie joined Meta a decade ago, transitioning from software engineering to product management (PM) to learn from the best in the industry. Throughout her work—from Facebook Pages and shopping to the metaverse—AI has played a key role in how she builds consumer products. This, coupled with her drive to create future technology that is more personal and contextual than today’s phones and computers, made her transition to AI devices a natural fit.
Two and a half years after joining the Wearables AI team, AI roadmap at Meta has accelerated significantly. The team has launched what has become the most popular AI device on the market: Ray-Ban Meta glasses. Building on this success, the team is working on additional AI glasses that will further expand the category and pave the way for the next generation of computing platforms.
“I never would have guessed that my weekend purse would now hold only two items: my phone and Ray-Ban Meta glasses,” she says.
Here, Jackie shares the most rewarding moments of her career at Meta, how the products she works on are helping to build human connection, and why her go-to advice is “to know your strength and use it.”
As the Director of Product Management for Wearables Generative AI at Meta, what does a typical day look like for you?
There are two main aspects: product and people.
On the product side, I get to dream big and imagine the future—crafting an inspiring vision and articulating the strategy to bring it to life. Once we align on product strategy and critical milestones with company execs, we turn them into actionable roadmaps and execution plans. A significant portion of my day is dedicated to making informed decisions, which often take place during product reviews. I love jamming on user experience flows, examining data and research insights, and developing go-to-market strategies for launches.
On the people side, I’m dedicated to enabling my product managers, engineering, and cross-functional partners by building shared context and trust-based relationships. I also enjoy presenting at leadership panels, AI conferences, and org-wide all-hands, as well as leading Women@ Meta initiatives to uplift others.
Looking back at the AI field 10 years ago vs. today, what are the most surprising shifts you’ve seen? How have these shifts influenced your unique perspective and approach to AI?
I focused on human-computer interaction (HCI) as part of my computer science degree in my undergrad and grad days at MIT. Back then, users had to adapt to systems with rigid interactions and often required training. Today, with the rise of multimodal AI models, machines have learned to speak our language and “see” what we see, making interaction much more natural. The leap from rule-based systems to AI that can learn strategies has expanded its application to various domains, including content generation, coding, education, and healthcare. This shift has given me confidence that AI can add value to people worldwide much sooner than we thought. With the rapid pace of development, as well as open-source models like Llama democratizing AI access, we’re pushing boundaries and creating scalable, adaptive, human-centered experiences that were previously unimaginable.
What is the most challenging work when developing AI for wearables?
Shipping live AI on Ray-Ban Meta glasses, as the first wearable video AI experience launched publicly, was one of the wildest rides. We’re stacking two tough problems—video streaming on our glasses hardware and real-time video models on our servers—making the challenge even greater. I remember trying the first internal build last year and being both excited and skeptical. We had no production-ready video AI model, no pipeline for streaming video from glasses to the app, and no measurement systems. Fast forward a few months, and we shipped video AI in step with our competitors, but on a tiny wearable device when others were just shipping it on phones. I'm grateful to have worked alongside an incredibly resilient and creative group of top talents who turned a daunting task into a rewarding adventure.
Can you tell us more about how research and products from Meta help to build for human connection?
At Meta, what we build is driven by our mission. As the former PM lead for Facebook Pages and Shopping, I saw firsthand how building a robust online presence and distribution network can transform small local ideas into international beloved brands with unique offerings through the power of social media.
I’ll share another one that perhaps fewer people have heard about, specifically what one of my teams had launched recently—live translation on AI glasses. We all know how frustrating it can be when we’re trying to communicate with someone who speaks a different language. That’s why we created this awesome feature that translates languages in real-time, right on the glasses, without needing internet access. We also partnered with Be My Eyes, to provide blind and low-vision users with real-time assistance on their glasses from sighted volunteers. It’s all about cultivating meaningful human connections and building a more inclusive, interconnected world.
What’s your top advice for someone starting their AI or product management career?
My advice is to know your strength and use it! During the first few performance reviews at Meta, I would scroll past what I did well and dive straight into the constructive feedback section from my peers, searching for areas to improve. However, I soon realized that the impact section, where my colleagues highlighted how I added value, was equally, if not more, important. Through the insights of my managers and peers, I discovered my strengths—something I couldn’t have articulated on my own.
Understanding your strengths allows you to focus on your unique abilities and excel in areas where you naturally shine. Don’t overlook words of affirmation as I once did. Embrace and lean into the areas where you’re appreciated, both professionally and personally.
What’s been the most rewarding part of your career at Meta so far?
I’ve had many rewarding moments at Meta—from launching products like AI glasses that have surprisingly become a daily staple for my friends and family, to hearing directly from small business owners about how our Facebook Pages and shopping products have changed their lives. But honestly, the most rewarding part has been building a PM team that feels like family. Each person who has joined shares our vision and values. Together, we’ve created a strong team culture. I’ve been lucky to support many team members through promotions and watch them grow into incredible product leaders who build technology with deep empathy, care, and a passion for making a positive impact on people's lives.