Elizabeth Stone was named chief technology officer of Netflix in October 2023. She joined the company in 2020, serving first as VP of product data science and engineering and, more recently, as VP of data and insights.Adam Rose/Supplied
Elizabeth Stone isn’t your conventional CTO. The Netflix exec has been with the company since 2020, when she joined as the VP of product data science and engineering. Three years later, the MIT grad, Stanford-trained economist, one-time trader at Merrill Lynch, former competitive swimmer and triathlon aficionado earned her current title. Since then, she’s blended her athletic mindset and ability to handle pressure with a competitive business strategy that is pushing Netflix’s technological edge further than ever.
And she’s just getting started, with big goals for Netflix, including innovations in advertising, live events and games.
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint. We have to be focused and disciplined,” Stone told The Globe and Mail while in Toronto for Toronto Tech Week. “We have to understand our strengths and weaknesses and how to become even more capable and competent over time.”
Netflix, whose history as a DVD mail rental service is far behind it, has long led the streaming industry in terms of user experience. Features like “play next,” “skip intro” and viewing recommendations originated with Netflix and have since been widely adapted across the space.
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This past May, under Stone’s leadership, the company unveiled a new TV experience update that includes a refreshed home page, better real-time recommendations, shortcuts that are easier to see and new search methods using generative AI.
“We want to do things at Netflix that others aren’t doing because we think that’s an opportunity to innovate for consumers,” Stone says.
In Canada, Stone says the majority of members watch titles with subtitles and dubs. But also, following the debut of WWE Raw and Smackdown in January, “WWE” has been the most searched-for term by Canadian viewers.
That WWE and other live events are possible is a testament to the quick progression of Netflix’s tech. The company’s recent live-streamed two-hour Tudum event featuring headliner Lady Gaga generated more than 1.4 billion global impressions (the number of times content is displayed) across Netflix’s social media platforms.
Last November’s Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight also streamed live on the platform, and peaked at 65 million concurrent viewers. That’s significant when you consider that it was only two years ago that a live Love is Blind reunion caused significant tech difficulties for the service, forcing it to delay and eventually cancel the livestream.
“Our entry into live has been incredible in one part, because it reflects the Netflix I love, which is risk-taking and innovation,” Stone says. “We have to take those swings to discover new ways to deliver for members, so I would much prefer we lean into those risks. We learn and iterate very quickly.”
Some risks haven’t panned out, such as interactive programming that allows users to choose their own adventures. Late last year, Netflix began removing the majority of such titles, and completed the process by taking off the final two titles, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend, this past May.
“The biggest signal for us is engagement,” Stone explains. “If something’s not resonating with members, we don’t continue down those paths. Interactive is one of those examples.”
Stone points to the current games model as a “fun evolution” to come from the interactive experiment. Netflix members currently have access to more than 120 mobile games with no in-app purchases or ads, and the company is investing more into the space to increase interactive and immersive content for members.
“We learned that from interactive content. Those engagements weren’t particularly a huge success, but now we’re able to take that forward in the programming we will have,” she adds.
Where Netflix hasn’t historically led is within the advertising space, but that is shifting. The streamer introduced less expensive plans with ads in late 2022 in response to declining subscriber numbers and stock prices. Since then, the company has been catching up to ad-based competitors.
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A full technology suite for ad buyers is available in Canada and other markets, and Canada was the first country where Netflix built the technology in-house to match advertisers with members. This past March, the streamer revealed its global advertising tier has more than 94 million monthly users.
“We believe we can be a leader in innovation in the advertising market over time, in part because we’ve got such incredible high quality content, in part because we’ve got such strong reach with members around the world,” Stone says.
“Technology will enable how we connect advertisers with members so that it’s highly relevant in both directions. How we bring our creativity to ads and what the ads experience is means that it doesn’t always have to be interruptive.”
That intersection of tech and creativity is what has always drawn Stone to Netflix and inspires how she leads her team. Part of her role is allowing people to dream up ways to deliver for members. Immersive user experiences and discovery that bring the worlds of popular titles to life area examples of that. She points to the interactive Stranger Things experiences or the Bridgerton balls held in cities across North America.
“I really think about five years from now,” she says. “We do a lot of exercises that go beyond the now, what’s possible now, and imaging what’s possible in the future. I like the phrase, ‘Imagine a world where…’ and let people fill in that blank.”
