YouTube’s new Chief Product Officer introduces herself with “Release Notes” series

Seven months into her tenure as YouTube‘s Chief Product Officer, Johanna Voolich is updating viewers about some new and upcoming features. In the first episode of the new series Release Notes, Voolich sat down with YouTube Creator Liaison Rene Ritchie for a conversation that explored YouTube CEO Neal Mohan‘s current objectives.

Release Notes is available on the Creator Insider channel, which YouTube uses to update its community about the latest changes to its platform. Insights from the show can also be found in text form via a blog post attributed to Ritchie.

The new series is a bit different from typical Creator Insider uploads. Through a combination of discussion prompts, questions from creators, and references to Mohan’s open letter from the beginning of the year, Voolich and Ritchie attempt to explain how YouTube makes its decisions — and how those choices impact creators big and small. Based on its title and its format, Release Notes appears to be YouTube’s version of Patch Notes, the podcast Twitch uses to keep its community abreast of recent developments

So what’s Voolich been up to since she took over as Chief Product Officer last August? In her Release Notes appearance, the 19-year Google vet discussed her meetings with creators like MrBeast and Alan Chikin Chow, as well as her team’s plans to bring new features to launch.

Voolich also noted that the last YouTube CPO — Mohan himself — is bullish on AI, which YouTube will implement in several ways. “Invisible AI” systems, which inform YouTube’s recommendation algorithm and its trust and safety policies, will continue to operate behind the scenes. At the same time, users can expect to see more “Visible AI” innovations, including the translation tool Aloud and the background generation tool known as Dream Screen.

Those creative aids, Voolich said, allow YouTube to reinforce its most special quality. “I really want to hone in on how important original content is to YouTube,” she said. “So when I think about AI, I think its about supercharging the original voice of creators.”

Voolich’s Release Notes co-host was a full-time tech review before stepping into his current role. Ritchie became YouTube’s Creator Liaison in 2022.