Meta has appointed Assaf Keren, formerly of Qualtrics and PayPal, as its new chief information security officer.

      Meta has appointed Assaf Keren as its new chief information security officer, succeeding Guy Rosen, who announced his exit in June after being with the company for 13 years. Keren, who starts this week, previously served as chief security officer at Qualtrics for two years and held the same position at PayPal. According to Bloomberg, Rosen will continue as CISO during a transition period lasting several months before departing later this year.

      In a LinkedIn post on Wednesday, Keren mentioned that he aims to enhance security and trust in Meta's artificial intelligence systems and their supporting infrastructure. This goal highlights the significant impact AI has had on Meta’s operations since Mark Zuckerberg indicated earlier this year that resources were being shifted from workforce expansion to AI infrastructure. The company has pledged up to $145 billion in capital expenditures until 2026, mainly directed towards data centers, GPUs, and systems for its Llama models and Superintelligence Labs.

      The CISO position is particularly significant for Meta following a challenging year regarding its security measures. In June, a vulnerability in Meta’s AI-driven customer support chatbot was exploited by hackers, leading to the hijacking of over 20,000 Instagram accounts, including those associated with notable public figures and government entities. The attackers deceived the chatbot into altering account recovery email addresses, enabling them to reset passwords and gain access before Meta addressed the issue.

      Keren brings over 25 years of experience in cybersecurity, having started his career with Israel’s defense forces in 2000. He founded and sold two cybersecurity firms before transitioning into corporate security roles and holds patents related to security and AI technologies. He also serves on the Cyber and Technology Resilience Experts Panel of the Monetary Authority of Singapore and is a member of the Wall Street Journal’s Technology Council.

      Rosen joined Meta in 2013 when the company acquired his analytics startup Onavo. Throughout his tenure, he held various senior positions, including overseeing election integrity initiatives following the 2016 US presidential election, and more recently managing the integration of AI tools into internal operations during a leadership restructuring in November 2025. His exit coincides with Meta's larger restructuring efforts, which have resulted in the elimination of roughly 8,000 jobs and the reorganization of thousands of employees into AI-focused teams led by Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang.