He Runs a Company With 3 Billion Users. Here’s What He Looks for From New Hires.

Jul 15, 2026 01:23 AM - 3 hours ago 53

Key Takeaways

  • Adam Mosseri is the CEO of Instagram, an app pinch 3 cardinal users.
  • In a caller interview, Mosseri revealed that he looks for 3 traits successful caller hires, sloppy of discipline.
  • Mosseri likened an openness to AI to the opening days of learning a caller language.

AI is disrupting the workforce, but astatine Instagram, the traits that matter successful new hires withstand the trial of time. 

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said connected a caller section of Lenny’s Podcast that he looks for 3 halfway traits successful caller hires. No matter what their usability successful the company, he searches for workers who are speedy learners, gritty and self-aware. 

“If you are those 3 things, if you’ve sewage occurrence successful your belly, you study quickly, and you’re self-aware, you tin benignant of get bully astatine thing eventually,” Mosseri said. “But if immoderate of those things are missing, there’s usually an issue.”

Self-awareness is particularly important because it intends “you tin really return feedback,” he said. That matters considering Instagram’s wide personification base: The app boasts three cardinal users. 

It’s besides captious considering tech is apt to alteration dramatically complete the adjacent decade, according to Mosseri. He emphasized the value of adaptability successful workers who are group to thrive successful an AI-driven world. 

“I deliberation 2 things that I’m continuing to promote myself to do are to enactment funny and to put yourself retired there,” he said. “I conscionable deliberation you’ve sewage to effort things.”

Mosseri likened an openness to AI to learning a caller language. 

“Are you consenting to sound for illustration an idiot?” he said. “Are you consenting conscionable to opportunity it and beryllium corrected and not beryllium offended and past conscionable get amended and better? You conscionable person to put yourself retired there. And pinch each of these caller devices and models and technologies, I deliberation you conscionable person to beryllium consenting to effort stuff.”

Another CEO has his ain database of 3 qualities

Scale AI’s interim CEO, Jason Droege, said successful an October episode of Lenny’s Podcast that he interviews workers crossed disciplines. 

“Whenever I would prosecute people, I was trying to constitute almost for illustration an organism of strengths and past minimize the conflicts,” he said.

He can’t beryllium an master successful each field, truthful he pins down what he is looking for to 3 things: funny problem-solving, humble collaboration and good activity skills. 

“If you conscionable do those 3 things, I deliberation you person a beautiful precocious chance of occurrence astatine slightest successful an organization,” he said. “The world’s changing, right? So you do request group that are adaptable. So each the acquisition is not needfully one-to-one relevant.”

However, Droege said that acquisition matters for immoderate roles astatine the expert level. 

“For definite roles, you perfectly request the correct acquisition successful this existent market,” he said. “You spot this pinch researchers, because the market’s moving truthful fast, you don’t person clip to train up immoderate people.”

Anton Osika, CEO of vibe coding startup Lovable, told Business Insider past twelvemonth that he cares much astir really quickly personification learns and adapts alternatively than wherever they are professionally. 

“If a speech feels alive, if I locomotion distant having learned thing new, that’s a beardown motion they’ll thrive successful the squad and push our ways of moving forward,” Osika said. 

Key Takeaways

  • Adam Mosseri is the CEO of Instagram, an app pinch 3 cardinal users.
  • In a caller interview, Mosseri revealed that he looks for 3 traits successful caller hires, sloppy of discipline.
  • Mosseri likened an openness to AI to the opening days of learning a caller language.

AI is disrupting the workforce, but astatine Instagram, the traits that matter successful new hires withstand the trial of time. 

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said connected a caller section of Lenny’s Podcast that he looks for 3 halfway traits successful caller hires. No matter what their usability successful the company, he searches for workers who are speedy learners, gritty and self-aware. 

“If you are those 3 things, if you’ve sewage occurrence successful your belly, you study quickly, and you’re self-aware, you tin benignant of get bully astatine thing eventually,” Mosseri said. “But if immoderate of those things are missing, there’s usually an issue.”

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