Airbnb announced the appointment of Gus Fuldner, a former Uber executive with extensive experience in platform security and operations, as the company’s global head of operations.
Fuldner takes over on March 16, replacing Tara Bunch, who is leaving the company after six years.
Prior to joining Airbnb, Fuldner worked for about 12 years at Uber, where he held the position of Senior Vice President of Core Services. In this capacity, he was responsible for critical areas such as security, customer support, payments, insurance, and user identification systems.
At Airbnb, she will lead community support functions, which include host relations, fraud prevention and security procedures, and the AirCover insurance program.
Fuldner’s appointment comes at a time when Airbnb is trying to expand its role in planning the entire trip, not just accommodation. The company has already expanded its activities to hotels, relaunched the Experiences platform, and introduced new services for travelers.
In a message to employees, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said that one of the main goals of the new executive would be to unify the company’s functions, which are currently distributed among different teams and systems.
As noted, Airbnb aims to create a unified AI-powered service platform, so that every user interaction with the company is based on a better understanding of their needs and enhances trust, personalization of services, and the quality of the experience.
According to Chesky, Fuldner is considered one of the key architects of the operational systems that allowed Uber to expand globally, managing hundreds of millions of trips and deliveries every week.
