Taz Patel, head of promoting and procuring on the AI search startup Perplexity, has left the corporate after 9 months, the startup confirmed to ADWEEK.
Patel joined Perplexity in December 2024, and was tasked with constructing out the 3-year-old startup’s fledgling adverts enterprise. He was beforehand chief income officer and co-founder of the influencer-marketing agency Captiv8, which was acquired by Publicis Groupe in Might of this yr.
Perplexity declined to touch upon who, if anybody, would change Patel. Patel didn’t reply to requests for remark.
“It’s been nice to have Taz on our group, and we want him all one of the best in his future endeavors,” Ryan Foutty, Perplexity’s vp of enterprise informed ADWEEK in a press release. “Perplexity is pushed by velocity and curiosity, so our work continues unchanged and we nonetheless accomplice with the world’s finest entrepreneurs and retailers who wish to experiment and develop one of the best client experiences for the AI age.”
ADWEEK first reported on Perplexity’s promoting ambitions in April final yr. Since then, the corporate has introduced on a handful of manufacturers and businesses—together with TurboTax, Certainly, Entire Meals, Common McCann and PMG—to check sponsored adverts on its U.S. platform.
Perplexity, which raised $100 million in July, is valued at about $18 billion. The corporate’s advert enterprise reportedly generated solely about $20,000 in This autumn final yr, although it has additionally expanded into on-line procuring, permitting customers to purchase merchandise surfaced in search by means of PayPal and Venmo.
CEO Aravind Srinivas mentioned in March that Perplexity had surpassed $100 million in annualized income, up 25% from January. To succeed in new customers, the corporate spent practically $10 million final yr—about half its payroll bills—on gross sales and advertising and marketing, together with its first nationwide TV marketing campaign throughout ABC’s broadcast of the 2024 NBA Finals, in response to The Data. Perplexity additionally spent virtually $5 million on authorized charges.
