Principal TPM & Program Leader

Michael Zaic

I build platforms and organizations that deliver when the stakes are highest. Currently leading cross-org execution at Meta Reality Labs.

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Featured Work

Platforms at Scale

META REALITY LABS 2024 - Present

Horizon Engine & Connect 2025

Principal TPM for Meta Horizon Engine - the platform powering worlds across Meta devices and key to the Connect 2025/2026 roadmap. Built the canonical program structure, initiated the Stability War Room, and led cross-org delivery across 20+ engineering, product, infrastructure, and content teams.

Meta Connect 2025 Keynote - Click to play
20+ Teams Coordinated
700+ Blockers Burned Down
72 FPS Target
1000s Concurrent Users
~100% Hitch-free Keynote
META REALITY LABS 2022 - 2024

Privacy Infrastructure & DMA Compliance

Program QB for Reality Labs' EU Digital Markets Act compliance and privacy infrastructure. Owned cross-stack execution for purpose limitation and data boundary enforcement, taking stacks from yellow to green and pulling compliance timelines in by months.

META REALITY LABS 2022

Quest Store Growth & Monetization

Led Quest Store monetization and growth - built attribution for 11M users, led React Native migration under device-launch risk, and delivered the largest Quest Store install quarter in history.

Writing & Talks

Thinking Out Loud

Journal

The WOSP Model: Balanced Information System Design and Evaluation

A theoretical framework for balanced design and evaluation of advanced information systems, extending TAM to include performance requirements.

Communications of the AIS • 2003
Conference Talk

How We Survived Hurricane Sandy

Let our comedy of errors during Hurricane Sandy help convince your bosses that infrastructure and redundancy are actually worthwhile investments.

Velocity NYC • 2013
Conference Talk

Line Bias: Exploiting Gambling Line Data

Gambling lines don't represent who should win - they represent public risk appetite. Exploit the gap between expectations and outcomes.

Strata London • 2013
Forbes

How To Survive A Tech Transition

Survival tips culled from seven M&A transitions over 20 years. I've seen good transitions, really bad ones, and everything in between.

Forbes Tech Council • 2019
Forbes

Tech Leadership Tips From A Soccer Manager

Carlo Ancelotti's leadership style is an antidote to the in-your-face approach many tech companies embrace. People are everything.

Forbes Tech Council • 2019
Forbes

Avoiding The 'Blame Game'

Communication is the antidote to the most dreaded cultural cancer a company can face. But what does that actually mean in practice?

Forbes Tech Council • 2020
Background

The Path Here

2022 - PRESENT
Meta Reality Labs
Senior Technical Program Manager
Horizon Engine, Privacy/DMA, Quest Store. Building execution systems for Meta's most complex programs.
2019 - 2020
Wild Sky Media
SVP, Engineering & Product
Led global engineering and product org. Launched Mom.com, cut $100k+ infrastructure costs.
2007 - 2018
CafeMedia / RockYou
SVP / VP of Engineering
Scaled from developer to SVP. 25-person org, 100M+ monthly users, AdThrive acquisition integration.
2005 - 2010
Startups
Founder & Executive
MusicVideoCodes (acquired by Bolt Media), WikiYou, Sentt. Built consumer products to millions of users.
2008 - PRESENT
U.S. Navy Reserve
Commander
Commanding Officer. Early, below-zone promotion. Leading large distributed organizations supporting EUCOM and CENTCOM.