Facebook is to promote head of hardware, Andrew "Boz" Bosworth, to chief technology officer as a replacement for Mike Schroepfer, who is set to step down after 13-years in the role.
The change, which will take place next year when Schroepfer becomes a senior fellow, highlights Facebook's plans to increase its hardware output and build out it's 'Metaverse' vision.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg paid tribute to Schroepfer's "extraordinary contributions" to Facebook and the "critical role" he has played in building teams, mentoring leaders, and developing new technologies the company now uses, such as AI and virtual reality.
"Schrep and I have had a close partnership over the years, and in addition to being a great leader, he's also a great person and a close friend," Zuckerberg said.
There is currently no fixed date on the change, with Facebook only pointing to "sometime next year", but Schroepfer is set to become the social network's first senior fellow. In this new role, he will focus on recruiting, developing technical talent and continuing to foster the company's investments in new technologies.
When Bosworth takes over as CTO he will still continue leading the company's hardware group (Facebook Reality Labs) while also assuming responsibility for broader software engineering and artificial intelligence efforts.
"As our next CTO, Boz will continue leading Facebook Reality Labs and overseeing our work in augmented reality, virtual reality and more, and as part of this transition, a few other groups will join Boz's team as well," Zuckerberg said in a statement. "This is all foundational to our broader efforts helping to build the metaverse, and I'm excited about the future of this work under Boz's leadership."
Facebook is still a relative newcomer to consumer hardware but the company has significantly ramped up its efforts in recent years under Bosworth's watch. His Reality Labs team already has over 10,000 employees, making it the largest department after the company's engineering organisation he is set to take over.
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