Paul Hennessy

Chief Executive Officer & Director, Shutterstock

Search every verified Paul Hennessy interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. During Shutterstock's first quarter 2023 earnings call, Paul Hennessey discussed the company's investments in generative AI, noting that since launching an AI image generation platform in partnership with OpenAI in January, nearly one million users had created more than 20 million assets within three months. He contrasted this with Shutterstock's historical average of 10 million new images per quarter since 2020. Hennessey also highlighted the expansion of data partnerships, reporting that the company signed two new deals during the quarter, including a five-year and a six-year agreement, and that customers were increasingly seeking training data across multiple asset types such as video, music, and 3D content. Hennessey also commented on the broader shift toward AI-driven content creation, stating that customers using words to create content rather than other products to manipulate content made sense to the company, while acknowledging it was early days and that customer demands and use cases were still evolving. He noted high engagement with the platform, citing 10,000 accounts created daily and that the volume of content creation exceeded the company's core content business. In closing remarks, he expressed gratitude to customers, contributors, and employees.