About

Blake Shaw is a Director of Engineering at Instagram, currently supporting the Instagram Experience team at Meta in NYC. With over 11 years of relevant experience, Blake is an engineering leader who is passionate about machine learning, data science, and product development. Blake has a strong track record of success, having previously served as the Head of Data Science at Foursquare and Research Scientist at Twitter, Sense Networks, and Columbia University. In addition, he has held key leadership positions at Instagram and Facebook, where he led the development of multiple new products and features as an Engineering Manager on the Location Platform team. He has grown and supported multiple teams, including Local Search, Place Visit Detection, and Business Directory, and supported org sizes up to ~30 engineers. At Instagram, Blake is responsible for leading an org of ~100 engineers, working to make Instagram the best place to find and connect with the creators and content you care about. His team supports a variety of Instagram surfaces, including Feed, Explore, Search, and Profile, as well as sharing flows between Instagram and Meta’s apps and devices. Blake holds a PhD in Computer Science, with a focus on Machine Learning, from Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. He also holds an MPhil in Computer Science and an MS in Computer Science, both from Columbia University. He earned his BS in Computer Science from Columbia Engineering. Blake's technical expertise includes Senior Software Engineering, Research Science, Search, Data Science, Machine Learning, and Information Retrieval. He is a true leader in the field, with a passion for innovation and a proven ability to drive results.