Welcome everyone. I'm Gagan pre sha. As someone who helped transform LinkedIn's messaging platform. I've seen firsthand how communication at scale reshapes everything from relationships to revenue. Today, we are going to explore how AI is not replacing human communication, but partnering with it to make messaging smarter, faster, and more human. Like the Hitchhikers Guide reminds us don't panic Messaging is changing, but that change is something we can reshape responsibly. When I led LinkedIn's messaging revamp, we moved from a rigid InMail inbox to a dynamic chat interface, but that wasn't just the ui. It required rethinking how professionals engage. We had to rebuild the backend for speed, scale, and migrate 17 years of messages with zero downtime. And evolved norms around tone and responsiveness. The result was dramatic. Conversations increased, users reconnected more frequently. This was the moment LinkedIn messaging became a living, breathing network, not, not a slow email proxy. My messaging matters. Let's zoom out. Why does messaging matter so much today? First, it's the backbone of modern work. People use Slack teams, LinkedIn chats, Facebook messaging as their primary workspace. Slack alone processes over 1.5 to 2 billion messages a week. Second, it accelerates decision making. What used to take hours by email can now happen in minutes via messaging. Third, it builds relationships, mentorship, networking, deal making. Often all of that starts with one message. Professional messaging has come a whole long way from the dear sir. Dear Madam, email days. We're in a world of back and forth emoji LA chats. This evolution isn't just about speed. It's a cultural shift. Messaging is now less formal, more human. A casual, got five minutes. Ping has replaced a long outstretched outreach and persistent group chats. That's today's virtual office where ideas live, decisions get made and alignment happens in real time. Scaling messaging is more, more than just about the servers. It's about social complexity. As the platform grows, we see new problems, noise, spam, etiquette, drift. So we invested in features that scale trust. Spam filters, rate limits, message invitations. Read receipts, do not disturb statuses. Scaling communication isn't just technical. It's cultural shaping norms, expectations, and invisible rules of interaction, as well as responding to the changes in these changing norms. This is where the magic starts. Today's messaging tools are already including ai. Think smart replies don't checks live translation and message summaries. We've already been playing with that in all the tools that we all use. But here's the nuance. The best experiences are AI assisted, not AI authored. AI helps draft coach contextualize, but it's still the human who decides, personalize and connects. That's the loop. AI offers scale and speed. Humans bring the nuance and meaning, and that's where the power is. As I look ahead for the next five years, this is where I think messaging is headed. AI message assistance will become the norm. They'll triage, they'll draft and they'll schedule. But you come in and figure out what to send. The boundaries are gonna drop real time multilingual conversations with tone aware translations are gonna become the norm. It's gonna be the basic expectation we have, uh, from our tools, the language and country and location barriers are gonna melt away. Thirdly, I believe context of aware chat platforms that pull up relevant docs. Flag risks as well as contextualize your conversation is again, going to be a step by step increase in expectations from all customers. You know, one platform will bring it in and then it'll be everywhere. Lastly, we've just scratched the surface on our mediums, right? Right now it's all text chat, but as. We, we move into this era of, uh, AI spatial messaging with gestures, voice, and even ar might start showing up in a small way. And lastly, but most cri critically AI secured systems that ensure authenticity are going to be where most of the innovation is gonna happen. People are assuming it's gonna end up being ai, talking to ai, whereas my belief is at the end it is a human connection that's going to be amplified with the tools that are evolving around us, and it is the tools that will ensure that we can have more authentic conversation and dispense with all the other formality that was needed and years before the line between email, chat and meetings will blur. But AI will bring us together and as humans, what else would we want? Uh, as, as product leaders, as we think about where we spend most of our time, I would say the rules are still the same. Keep it simple. If it takes four clicks, it's too much. You know, build for trust, let users control or decide. What do you do with their data and their inbox? Don't blindside them. It's trust is very difficult to gain and very easy to lose and use AI thoughtfully. I know everybody who's talking about AI talks about this, but it it, here, the guidance is clear. It should be used to enhance, not replace the human voice, because then what's about messaging? Um. L. We also need to think about how to operate at scale planning for billions of messages. But protecting the experience is a very fine balance to maintain. And as product leaders, we need to think about how we shape the culture, the norms, as well as the safeguards for safety in place, uh, and. Like all good product leaders, focus on the outcomes, you know, optimize for message quality, then count quantity. Optimize for human connection rather than message depth. And, uh, make your messaging products feel like a superpower, not just another inbox because you know, God knows if we need to learn another inbox. Zero technique for new AI enabled messages. Lastly. At the heart of messaging, it's the human right. All of this AI scaling transformation still leads back to one thing that is people tools must strengthen trust and connection. Empathy, nuance and authenticity can't be automated even if we try. So we follow a human in loop philosophy, AI assists. Never replaces because messaging at its core is about relationships. That's where I see the future heading. And you know, like Douglas Adams says, don't panic. Uh, the Babelfish will let you understand any a language. And in today's world, AI is our babelfish, translating, suggesting, reminding, but. We are still the pilots. AI can chart the course, but we set the destination. So here's my ask. Build boldly. Use AI to reduce friction, but keep the human touch at the heart of your product. And lastly, grab your towel. Let's go build messaging platforms worthy of the future. Thank you.