The news: Pinterest is entering a transition marked by leadership changes and a sharper focus on performance and commerce.

• CRO Bill Watkins is stepping down after 12 years, ending a period in which Pinterest scaled from no revenues to billions in advertiser spend, per Digiday.
• Pinterest has hired Lee Brown, formerly of DoorDash and Spotify, as its first chief business officer, consolidating oversight of sales, advertising, content, and all customer-facing operations under a single executive.
• Pinterest also named former Amazon executive Claudine Cheever as CMO, tasking her with sharpening the company’s narrative around commercialization, shopping growth, and brand positioning with users and investors.
• On the content side, Pinterest launched “Bring My Pinterest to Life,” a creator-led shoppable video series distributed on Roku, extending the platform beyond mobile into connected TV, per Adweek.

Zooming out: The departure comes weeks before Pinterest’s Q4 2025 earnings, and as investors focus less on user growth and more on monetization efficiency and execution.

Throughout 2025, Pinterest expanded Performance+ and intensified its focus on SMB advertisers, marking a move beyond brand storytelling toward more automated, outcome-focused advertising, Digiday noted.

Why it matters: Pinterest’s user base is loyal but growing slowly, which puts pressure on yield and makes monetization efficiency its primary growth lever.

• Our forecasts show US Pinterest ad revenues rising from $2.95 billion in 2025 to $3.78 billion in 2027, about 28% growth driven largely by higher value per user rather than audience expansion; US ARPU is projected to increase from $32.67 in 2025 to $40.16 in 2027, a gain of more than 23%.
• Globally, Pinterest ad revenues are expected to grow from $4.24 billion in 2025 to $5.7 billion in 2027, showing improving monetization outside the US while overall user growth slows.
• We project US Pinterest social buyers will increase from 21.2 million in 2025 to 25.5 million by 2029, rising from 24.2% to 26.9% of users. That’s somewhat concerning, as Pinterest users' penchant to engage in social commerce was one positive the platform could tout, but we see slower growth ahead.

The shoppable Roku series is an attempt to lean back into its strength: Connecting inspiration to commerce. The show centers on creators guiding viewers from inspiration to purchase, with brand integrations from Wayfair, Michaels, and eos placed where planning intent is already high.

Pinterest’s expansion into CTV aligns with broader commerce ambitions. Its Roku partnership and acquisition of tvScientific aim to link video exposure directly to outcomes, allowing advertisers to buy and measure TV inventory using performance signals instead of impressions.

Implications for marketers: Pinterest’s next phase is less about adding users and more about extracting value from the ones it already has.

Performance tools, shoppable formats, and CTV distribution are designed to reduce friction between discovery and transaction, reinforcing Pinterest’s role as a utility rather than a passive feed. The leadership transition adds execution risk, but the underlying direction is consistent: Higher yield, stronger commerce activation, and tighter measurement.

For advertisers, Pinterest’s appeal lies in predictability and intent. It may not offer explosive audience growth, but it offers users who arrive with plans, budgets, and timelines already in mind. In a market where growth is harder to come by, Pinterest is betting that loyalty, planning behavior, and commerce readiness can sustain revenue momentum even if the user base grows slowly.