I'm incredibly sad about this. In the most selfish way possible. His presentation style was fun, but what I REALLY loved about him, was how active he was in the comments and especially on Twitter. He'd take on a lot of feedback, he'd pass on feedback, and give insight and his own feedback on what the team was doing.
I trust him far more than Team YouTube. It was nice having a somewhat secret contact we could reach out to personally, because we all know the rest of the organisation aren't transparent at all. Tom was the face of transparency in my eyes, not just share news that was finished, but giving the creators insight into the process of doing things, having a say into what we want as creators. Now it seems more like "this is what you're given, like it or lump it"
I really do think YouTube or Creator Insider need a face that we can directly contact with feedback and suggestions, where we know the feedback has actually been seen and herd.
Tom will do amazing whereever he ends up. I'm following him on twitter so I'll be keeping an eye on what he's doing.
I hope Creator Insider will continue with that same energy and transparency.