Taboola Names Krishan Bhatia as Chief Business Officer; Amazon Ads and NBCUniversal Veteran to Lead Global Sales and Partnerships
Rhea-AI Summary
Taboola (NASDAQ: TBLA) named Krishan Bhatia as Chief Business Officer effective Feb 18, 2026. He will lead global sales and partnerships to drive revenue across Taboola’s product portfolio, including Realize, CTV performance, publisher network and generative AI products like DeeperDive.
Bhatia joins from Amazon, where he led global video advertising, and previously served as President and Chief Business Officer at NBCUniversal. Taboola says it surpassed $2 billion in revenue under current leadership.
Positive
- Experienced hire: Krishan Bhatia appointed Chief Business Officer with Amazon and NBCUniversal leadership background
- Revenue scale: Company surpassed $2 billion in revenue
- Product momentum: Realize platform and DeeperDive generative AI cited as growth drivers
Negative
- None.
Key Figures
Market Reality Check
Peers on Argus
Several internet content peers were down, including FVRR at -9.09%, but only FVRR appeared in momentum scans, suggesting today’s setup is more stock-specific than a broad sector move.
Historical Context
| Date | Event | Sentiment | Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 05 | GenAI deployment deal | Positive | -2.9% | Reach adopted DeeperDive GenAI answer engine across major publisher sites. |
| Jan 28 | AI ad performance study | Positive | -0.5% | Large study showed AI-generated ads matched human creatives on engagement metrics. |
| Jan 28 | Earnings date announcement | Positive | -0.5% | Company scheduled Q4 and full-year 2025 results call for Feb 25, 2026. |
| Dec 29 | Conference participation | Positive | +1.6% | Announced attendance and fireside chat at Needham Growth Conference. |
| Dec 03 | CTV partnership launch | Positive | -1.0% | Partnered with LG Ad Solutions to link CTV exposure to open-web performance. |
Recent positive news (AI products, partnerships, events) often saw negative next-day moves, with only one of five events aligning positively.
Over the past few months, Taboola announced multiple growth-oriented initiatives, including an LG Ad Solutions partnership on Dec 3, 2025, participation in the Needham conference on Dec 29, 2025, AI-driven advertising research on Jan 28, 2026, and a DeeperDive GenAI deployment with Reach on Feb 5, 2026. Despite broadly positive business updates, four of five recent news days saw negative 24-hour price reactions, highlighting a pattern where upbeat announcements have not consistently translated into near-term share gains.
Market Pulse Summary
This announcement highlights Taboola’s push to strengthen its commercial execution by naming a Chief Business Officer with experience scaling advertising at Amazon and NBCUniversal. It follows recent AI-driven initiatives like DeeperDive and the Realize performance platform, and comes after Q3 2025 revenue reached $496.8 million. Investors may track how this hire influences global sales, publisher partnerships, and monetization trends as upcoming earnings and further product updates unfold.
Key Terms
performance advertising technical
generative AI technical
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
NEW YORK, Feb. 18, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Taboola (NASDAQ: TBLA) today announced the expansion of its leadership team with the hiring of Krishan Bhatia as Chief Business Officer.
Bhatia will lead global sales and partnerships for Taboola, with a focus on driving revenue growth across Taboola’s entire product portfolio, which includes its Realize performance advertising platform, network of publisher partnerships, CTV performance, generative AI products and more. He joins with a formidable track record of accelerating growth for category-defining technology and media companies such as Amazon and NBCUniversal.
Most recently, Bhatia launched and led Amazon’s global video advertising business across Prime Video, Live Sports, Twitch, and third-party programmers, serving as VP, Global Video Advertising and Partnerships. Before Amazon, Bhatia was President and Chief Business Officer of NBCUniversal’s Global Advertising and Partnerships division where he oversaw the company’s digital, streaming TV and advanced advertising business.
“Krishan is joining Taboola at a pivotal moment in our journey,” said Adam Singolda, CEO of Taboola. “We are redefining performance advertising on the open web and beyond. Realize is gaining real momentum as advertisers look for scalable growth beyond search and social. At the same time, DeeperDive is bringing generative AI directly to publishers in ways that are helping them innovate and thrive. The opportunity in front of us is massive.”
“Krishan has helped build and scale some of the most important advertising businesses in the world at Amazon and NBCUniversal,” continued Singolda. “He understands how to operate at scale, how to partner with brands and agencies, and how to execute with discipline. We’ve spent years building a powerful foundation for long term success, surpassing two billion dollars in revenue under the strong leadership of Eldad Maniv, our President and COO. With that momentum, I’m excited to welcome Krishan Bhatia to the team as our first Chief Business Officer and for what he will bring as we scale the company and take our go to market execution to the next level.”
“Taboola has a bold vision for the future, built on global scale and innovative technology, to become a powerhouse for performance advertising and publisher success,” said Krishan Bhatia, Chief Business Officer at Taboola. “Over the past year, Taboola has hit exciting milestones. The introduction of Realize further solidified Taboola’s place as the leading player in performance advertising outside of search and social. Taboola’s launch of DeeperDive, pace of innovation with generative AI, and continued commitment to drive success for advertisers and partners are the types of strong signals that today’s market demands. I’m excited to come onboard at this pivotal point of growth for Taboola and to work alongside the entire team.”
About Taboola:
Taboola empowers businesses to grow through performance advertising technology that goes beyond search and social and delivers measurable outcomes at scale. Taboola works with thousands of businesses who advertise directly on Realize, Taboola’s powerful ad platform, reaching approximately 600M daily active users across some of the best publishers in the world. Publishers like NBC News, Yahoo, and OEMs such as Samsung, Xiaomi and others use Taboola’s technology to grow audience and revenue, enabling Realize to offer unique data, specialized algorithms, and unmatched scale.
Contact Dave Struzzi Dave.s@taboola.com
FAQ
Who is Krishan Bhatia and what role will he have at Taboola (TBLA) as of Feb 18, 2026?
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What product initiatives will Krishan Bhatia focus on at Taboola (TBLA)?
Does Taboola cite any recent financial milestones tied to this leadership change for TBLA?
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