Meta's decision to appoint CRED founder Kunal Shah as the new global head of WhatsApp began with a cold email from Chief Product Officer Chris Cox, who was consulting entrepreneurs and investors in key markets like India, Brazil, and Mexico to understand the platform's future. During a conversation, Cox told Bloomberg that Shah "had an incredible set of answers," leading the Meta executive to suggest Shah take charge. This initiated a recruitment process lasting around three months, during which Shah made several trips to Meta's headquarters in California, meeting CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other senior executives. Meta executives concluded Shah brought entrepreneurial experience, product thinking, and consumer insight. His appointment was announced as WhatsApp explores opportunities in artificial intelligence, subscriptions, payments, and business services. Shah is best known as founder of FreeCharge, acquired by Snapdeal in a deal reportedly valued at about $450 million, and launched CRED in 2018. He has invested in more than 250 startups, including Razorpay and Gojek. Meta executives believe Shah's experience in India, WhatsApp's largest market, was a significant advantage.