YouTube CEO Neal Mohan on the Future of Shorts, AI, and Creator Connection

When Neal Mohan first walked into YouTube’s New York offices as its CEO, he brought with him a career that had already shaped much of the platform’s monetization backbone. But in his candid conversation with Colin and Samir, Mohan revealed that his vision for YouTube goes far beyond ads — it’s about giving creators the tools, formats, and safeguards to thrive in a rapidly changing content landscape.

“Creators that take their eye off that ball — that connection with their audience — that’s where the problem starts.” – Neal Mohan

From Ad Tech to the Corner Office

Mohan’s relationship with YouTube stretches back to 2007, when he was at DoubleClick helping monetize a scrappy video platform above a pizza shop in San Mateo. After Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick, YouTube became part of his portfolio. By 2015, then-CEO Susan Wojcicki recruited him as YouTube’s Chief Product Officer, where he steered major product innovations before taking the top job in 2023.

Shorts: Big Growth, Bigger Questions

For Mohan, YouTube’s shorts format is still in “the early days” — but the growth is staggering: 70 billion daily views, up from 50 billion in January 2023. He insists shorts monetization will catch up to long-form revenue potential, citing a steady increase in creator payouts since the Shorts Partner Program launched.

But Mohan also rejects the idea of reviving a shorts fund:

“Funds are not scalable. They don’t have the predictability of the YouTube Partner Program.”

His long-game strategy: build advertiser products that work for both brand and direct-response campaigns, then scale them in a way that’s sustainable for creators.

AI: Threat or Tool?

While Mohan acknowledges AI’s risks — deepfakes, content flooding, and creator rights — he sees the technology primarily as an enhancer of human creativity.

“There’s never going to be a replacement for human creators on YouTube. People want to connect with you.”

In practice, that means AI tools to speed editing, enhance visuals, or even auto-generate thumbnails within creator-defined guardrails. Mohan predicts AI will be as transformative for content creation as the shift from desktop to mobile.

Metrics That Matter

Colin and Samir pushed Mohan on the relevance of subscribers in 2023. His stance? They still matter, but not in isolation. Returning viewers, watch time, and engagement remain better indicators of “depth” — the kind of connection that sustains a creator’s business long-term.

Community, Commerce, and Control

Mohan acknowledged a gap between YouTube’s comments and true community platforms like Discord. He also signaled a push into on-platform shopping — with creators already seeing significant revenue from tagged products in shorts. While YouTube takes a cut from memberships and Super Chats, Mohan supports creators building off-platform businesses, so long as “YouTube remains your home.”

Sports, Streaming, and the Multi-Format Future

From NFL Sunday Ticket to potential NBA partnerships, Mohan sees live sports as a key bridge between traditional broadcasts and creator-driven content. He envisions a future where viewers can seamlessly jump from watching a game to related creator content — all without leaving YouTube.

The Core Message for Creators

Asked what he’d do if he ran Colin and Samir’s channel, Mohan didn’t hesitate:

“Build that depth of audience. Establish that home base. That’s where all the opportunities come from.”

In other words: formats, algorithms, and monetization models will evolve — but the most future-proof asset a creator can build is a loyal, connected community.