10 WhatsApp engineering leaders
Vice President, Head of Engineering, Senior Director of Engineering and Director of Engineering are among the roles held by these ten WhatsApp engineering leaders, some of whom have since moved on. A reader can learn how engineering leaders work at WhatsApp from people who have held the role.
Professionals to explore
Anirudh Todi
LinkedInExperience: Director of Engineering · WhatsApp
Anirudh Todi has been Director of Engineering at WhatsApp since 2024 and describes supporting the Core Experience product engineering organization there, including messaging. Anirudh Todi was Director of Engineering at Snap Inc. from 2022 to 2024 and Director Of Engineering at Dropbox from 2020 to 2022.
Damon Hougland
LinkedInExperience: Director of Engineering, WhatsApp Payments · Facebook
Damon Hougland has been Director of Engineering, WhatsApp Payments at Facebook since March 2021, with a profile headline naming WhatsApp Business Messaging and Payments. Damon Hougland was Vice President of Engineering, Shipping, Payments, Identity, and Mobile at OfferUp from 2019 to 2021 and Director of Engineering, Delivery Experience at Amazon from 2017 to 2019.
Dick Brouwer
LinkedInExperience: Senior Director of Engineering · WhatsApp Inc.
Dick Brouwer has been Senior Director of Engineering at WhatsApp Inc. since April 2019, with a profile headline of Head of Growth at WhatsApp. Dick Brouwer was VP Engineering at Stella.ai from 2017 to 2018, Senior Director of Engineering at Tripadvisor from 2013 to 2016, and Co-Founder/CEO of Tiny Post from 2011 to 2013.
James Hendricks
LinkedInExperience: Software Engineering Director, Business Messaging · WhatsApp
James Hendricks was Software Engineering Director, Business Messaging at WhatsApp from May 2019 to May 2023 and also lists WhatsApp work on Commerce and CTWA from 2020 to 2022, Status Ads from 2018 to 2019 and Media from 2017 to 2018. James Hendricks has been a Software Engineering Director at Meta since May 2023, with a headline naming monetization.
Mark Tsimelzon
LinkedInExperience: Sr. Director Of Engineering · Meta
Mark Tsimelzon held the title Sr. Director Of Engineering at Meta from May 2019, with a headline describing the role as Senior Engineering Director at WhatsApp, and writes of leaving WhatsApp and Meta in August 2026. Mark Tsimelzon was Chief Engineering Officer at eMed Healthcare UK from 2017 to 2019 and VP Engineering at Syapse from 2014 to 2016.
Mattia Bugossi
LinkedInExperience: Director of Engineering, WhatsApp · Meta
Mattia Bugossi has been Director of Engineering, WhatsApp at Meta since May 2024, based in London. Mattia Bugossi was Director of Engineering, Instagram at Meta from 2021 to 2024 and Software Engineering Manager, Portal at Meta from 2018 to 2021, and was Head Of Mobile at Lily Robotics, Inc. from 2016 to 2017.
Nitin Gupta
LinkedInExperience: Vice President, Head of Engineering · WhatsApp
Nitin Gupta has been Vice President, Head of Engineering at WhatsApp since October 2016 and holds the title VP, Engineering at Meta over the same period. Nitin Gupta was Vice President, Engineering at Riverbed Technology from 2012 to 2015 and worked as a Software Engineer at Yahoo from 2001 to 2002.
Richard Haigh
LinkedInExperience: Director of Engineering (WhatsApp) · Meta
Richard Haigh has been Director of Engineering (WhatsApp) at Meta since January 2023. Richard Haigh was Chief Technology Officer at HealthHero from 2021 to 2023 and Chief Technology Officer at Just Eat Takeaway.com from 2019 to 2021, after serving as Director of Global Engineering there from 2018 to 2019.
Tanmoy Chakraborty
LinkedInExperience: Senior Director of Engineering (Individual Contributor) · Meta
Tanmoy Chakraborty has been Senior Director of Engineering (Individual Contributor) at Meta since August 2023, a role the profile describes as driving monetization of WhatsApp through paid messaging and ads. Tanmoy Chakraborty was Director Of Engineering (Individual Contributor) at Meta from 2020 to 2023 and a Research Scientist there from 2013 to 2015.
Vivek Shrivastava
LinkedInExperience: Director of Engineering · Meta
Vivek Shrivastava has been Director of Engineering at Meta since May 2018, a role the profile describes as leading Business Integrity at WhatsApp Inc. Vivek Shrivastava also held the title Technical Lead at WhatsApp from 2018 to 2019 and was Co-Founder of Incept AI from 2017 to 2018.
Choose the right perspective
Match the person to the product area and level behind your question, since a vice president and a director who runs one area see different tradeoffs. Check whether the relevant role is current or past before asking how the work is done today.
Questions to take into the conversation
- 01How did you organize the engineering work in your area, and what would you change about that setup now?
- 02What did you learn about balancing new product work with reliability in your area?
- 03How did you decide which engineering problems to take on first in your area?
Reaching WhatsApp engineering leaders
How can I contact one of these WhatsApp engineering leaders?
Pick one of the 10 people on this page and choose "Book a paid call", or describe your project to find others. You offer a fee for a 15-minute call or a written answer, Instant Expert finds the person's work email and sends the invitation, and they decide whether to accept. The list covers 4 companies, including WhatsApp, Facebook and WhatsApp Inc., based on profile data retrieved on October 19, 2026. Being listed here doesn't mean someone has agreed to take calls.
How much does it cost to reach WhatsApp engineering leaders?
You choose the offer, starting at $5 per person. The offer is what the person receives, and Instant Expert's fee is added on top, so a $100 offer costs you $125. The fee is 20% of what you pay. You're charged only when the person books the call or sends the answer.
What if they don't reply?
You pay nothing. Instant Expert sends follow-up reminders, and if the person hasn't booked or answered within 7 days, the request expires and any hold on your card is released. You can invite several of the 10 people on this list at once and cap your total spend, so you pay only for the ones who accept.
Can an AI agent ask one of these WhatsApp engineering leaders a question?
Yes. An agent with a USDC wallet on Base can ask one question without an Instant Expert account. It names the person, for example by the LinkedIn URL on this page, and pays per ask over x402 (HTTP 402). The person answers in writing or by voice note, and if nobody answers within 7 days, the payment goes back to the wallet automatically. Claude and ChatGPT can do the same through the Instant Expert connector: setup is at /docs/mcp for Claude and /docs/chatgpt for ChatGPT. x402 docs
About this directory
This is a professional research starting point based on business profile data retrieved on . Titles and companies reflect that source snapshot; roles marked former had ended by then. Check the linked profiles for current details. Inclusion does not imply Instant Expert membership or availability.
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