Exclusive: Vimeo's new CEO lays out AI strategy

The future for Vimeo is strongly tied to generative AI, the company's new CEO Philip Moyer tells Axios.

Why it matters: The video platform faces intense competition with OpenAI, Adobe, Canva, Runway, Lightricks and other companies racing to build text-to-video AI tools and services aimed at similar customers.

The latest: In his first interview since being appointed CEO in April, Moyer, a former Google VP, tells Axios that Vimeo sees major enterprise opportunities in solving the headaches of professional creators and corporate marketing departments with AI features that simplify storage, customization and distribution of video.

• "We are a trusted intermediary for wherever you want to use video and however you want to use it," he says.

Zoom in: The company is aiming to make it easy for people to push videos they've uploaded to Vimeo directly to Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and podcasting platforms, for example.

• And Vimeo has been experimenting with adding AI features that can learn and replicate a creator's storytelling and on-camera personas to generate everything from custom client-facing video messages to scenes in documentaries and films.

Zoom out: The company tends to focus on professionals such as brand marketers and filmmakers because they typically want more control and ownership over how their videos are used and monetized, Moyer says.

• Vimeo's enterprise business has accelerated from a pace of 32% year-over-year quarterly revenue growth in Q2 2023, to 55% growth in the latest period to $20.1 million.
• Vimeo also sees opportunity in helping clients and creators adhere to a growing number of complex AI regulations, he adds.

What we're watching: Wall Street is concerned about increased capex spending on AI and the time it will take to see investment returns.

• Vimeo, traded on the Nasdaq and valued at around $860 million, cut 11% of its workforce in early 2023 and 6% in 2022, but Moyer says the company is in a strong position to grow profits without needing to shrink headcount.
• "We've got one of the strongest balance sheets among our competitors, and our cash flow is among the strongest of [our] competitors, and so, no, we do not need to lay off to grow," he says.
• The stock trades at just over $5 per share, up 36% so far this year, but still down over 90% since going public in 2021.