My name is Manfred Zabarauskas. I currently lead Search and Explore product groups at Instagram in New York.

I am passionate about democratizing the next-gen computing: from artificial intelligence, robotics and AR/VR, to cloud, blockchain and biotech.

I first got fascinated by human-computer interaction during my undergrad studies at the University of Cambridge, where I have built immersive 3D displays. I continued pursuing these interests at the University of Oxford where I have built and deployed autonomous photographer robots.

Since 2012 I have been leading multi-billion user and multi-billion dollar products at Google, Facebook, Instagram, Microsoft and other companies.

I have co-founded the Google Cardboard virtual reality team in 2013. Over time it grew into Google Daydream virtual reality platform, where I led the teams building user interfaces for a pioneering VR operating system.

Afterwards I led multiple teams at Google Search through over a hundred launches to make people more curious, interested and educated when using search.

Previously I built a widely popular gcloud command-line interface for public cloud computing at Google Cloud, and extended Microsoft Office to be a world-leading technical content management platform.

I regularly consult startups and large companies on tech strategy, especially on AI, search and new computing platforms.

If you would like to get thoughts about your product, or have any comments or feedback, feel free to get in touch via the contacts section or just shoot me an e-mail at hello@manfredas.com. Thank you for visiting!

Over the last decade, I've had the privilege to study and work with a number of amazing people. Here's the summary of my education and professional experience, but if you prefer, you can get my detailed résumé on LinkedIn. It might even be more up-to-date.

EDUCATION

University of Cambridge
MA Computer Science
2016

University of Oxford
MSc Computer Science
2013, Distinction

University of Oxford
BA Computer Science
2012, Incorporation

University of Cambridge
BA Computer Science
2012, Double First Class

University of Edinburgh
CertHE Computer Science
2009, Simon Gray Prize

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Instagram Search & Explore, PM Lead, 5/2020 - now

I lead Instagram Search & Explore teams. Every day we help billions of people discover, manage and go deep on their interests.

Google Search, PM Lead, 1/2018 - 5/2020

Created the vision and strategy for making people more curious, interested and educated while using Google Search. Defined the roadmap, created team structures and processes, and led over a hundred launches working alongside 50+ designers and engineers. Was directly responsible for $xB/year new revenue and y% Google Search DAU growth.

Google Daydream, PM, 4/2017 - 1/2018

Scaled Daydream VR platform through new devices like Mirage Solo standalone VR headset, built next-gen VR UIs including Daydream Guide and Daydream Dashboard, launched Daydream Casting, launched VR co-presence infrastructure within YouTube VR.

Google Cardboard, PM, 11/2015 - 3/2017

Launched multiple releases and numerous features for the Google Cardboard app (Android, iOS), awarded "Best Overall Mobile App of 2016" at 21st annual MWC Global Mobile Awards. Launched Google's first-ever VR OS UI: Daydream Home, Welcome, Quick Settings, 2D app.

Google Cardboard, APM, 9/2014 - 10/2015

Launched the new Google Cardboard at Google I/O 2015 (featured in The New York Times, TechCrunch, Wired, TIME and others), created the "Works with Google Cardboard" certification program, started and grew the branded Cardboard campaigns (Volvo, AT&T, NYT).

Google Cloud, APM, 10/2013 - 8/2014

Worked on delivering great developer experiences for Google Cloud Platform. Launched Google Cloud SDK and the family of gcloud command-line tools, improved cloud-connected mobile app development experiences via cloud functionality in Android Studio IDE, supported Google Plugin for Eclipse.

Microsoft Office, PM, 06/2012 - 09/2012 (internship)

Created a feature specification for Microsoft Office sustained engineering content management. Evangelized new methods for UI prototype reusability to reduce the effort duplication between PMs and developers. Drove an end-to-end DB performance investigation and started a cross-divisional team for performance analysis.