Sundar Pichai to head Google's parent co, Alphabet Inc: The rise of a soft-spoken engineer from Chennai
In 2012, when Google Chrome became the largest-used browser, the company wanted to conduct some media interactions around it. The company’s communication team reached out to Sundar Pichai, the man who developed the browser. He, in his soft-spoken tone said, “I can do it after 10 pm,” Pichai had said then, remembers his former colleague. “I put my kids to bed… I can do it after they are asleep,” Pichai added.
Pichai, a soft-spoken engineer who grew up in Chennai, is a perfect blend of emotional and visionary qualities, said people who know and have worked with him. Perhaps that is why Google founders – Larry Page and Sergey Brin – made way for Pichai to become the CEO of Alphabet Inc, Google’ parent, to run an internet empire that is valued at $893.33 billion.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Image: Reuters
This is also the first time the founders of any American conglomerate have made way for an Indian to take over. Microsoft, too, has an Indian – Satya Nadella – as its CEO, but founder Bill Gates had relinquished his CEO position to an American CEO, Steve Ballmer.
But, who else other than Page and Brin, could have taken such a bold step. Pichai had been chosen to become the CEO of Google succeeding Page, even before Alphabet had come into existence.
The change comes at a time when Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google is driving a cultural change within the company. He recently told Google employees in an email, which got leaked, that the company will get rid of the weekly all-hands meeting, a trend that was started by the founders in 1999 and defined the company’s open and transparent culture.
“You can’t run one forum when half of your employee base is sleeping and are in different time zones, and Sundar understands that,” said a current Google employee, on the condition of anonymity. “A lot of discussion happens around things that are happening in Google in other countries like India and Japan.”
India alone has more than 2,000 employees, out of more than 1,00,000 employees globally. Pichai’s taking over will increase India’s importance in the global scheme of things. “He believes that if a product works in India, it will work globally,” said the person quoted above. Of course, India is the world’s second-largest country by number of internet users.
(Also read: Google CEO Sundar Pichai will now head both Google and parent company Alphabet)
No one in Google, perhaps understands India the way Pichai does. His upbringing was humble, and that still defines Pichai. He grew up in a house without a refrigerator or a television. “He remembers his childhood and how difficult it was to access information,” said the Google employee quoted above.
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But, to run a tech behemoth like Alphabet, Pichai will have to make people believe in his leadership. People who have worked with him say that Pichai is a unique leader. “He combines vision, team building, execution and deep humility. That is a rare combination,” said Rajan Anandan, Managing Director of Sequoia Capital India and the President of TiE Delhi-NCR. Anandan was also the country manager of Google India, and has worked closely with Pichai.
Anandan adds that Google is not a top-down organisation. “You need to build alignment,” he said. “You can’t expect everyone to go left, without everyone believing that is the right thing to do.”
Pichai is great at aligning people to one goal. “His ability to connect with people – from prime ministers to CEOs to 21-year olds – is just amazing,” said Anandan. “I have never seen Sundar (Pichai) get visibly upset. He is totally zen, never gets frazzled.”
Anandan remembers how once while driving past Rashtrapati Bhawan, Pichai saw kids playing cricket in the lawns near India Gate. He asked everyone to stop and joined the kids. Pichai loves cricket and American football, and is a big Sachin Tendulkar fan.
Everyone seems to love Pichai. “He did a talk with me at the Google headquarters in Mountain View,” remembers Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and non-executive chairman of the Board at Infosys. “He can deal with different personalities.”
Nilekani also said that after Pichai became the CEO of Google, the company’s focus on India has increased. But, he is not just people’s person. “He looks at things strategically. He is a great tech and product person, and can convert tech ideas into product reality,” Nilekani added.
That is important for Alphabet Inc, which has a large number of subsidiaries including Google. There is Calico, DeepMind, CapitalG, X, Google Fiber, Sidewalk Labs, Waymo, among others. Many of them are bets that Alphabet has made for the future.
Pichai also defined Google’s AI-first approach, and is committed to the next billion users growth journey, of which India is considered the cornerstone of success. AI stands for artificial intelligence.
Others who have met him said that he is a proud Indian. “He is proud of his Indianess,” said Deep Kalra, Co-Founder and Group CEO of MakeMyTrip, who met him soon after Pichai took over as Google’s CEO. “He is a charming, wonderful, down to earth leader.”
But, being a good human being doesn’t stop Pichai from taking tough decisions. “He has a way of getting things done. As the CEO of such a large organisation you have to take tough decisions. That is the magic of leadership,” Anandan said.
Anandan remembers entering many meetings when he didn't completely agree with Pichai. But, through the meeting things would change, and Anandan said that he has never left a meeting when both of them weren't in agreement. "With Sundar things are just seamless, and he never makes you feel bad," he added.
But, Pichai genuinely cares about people. “I wrote a letter to him when I left Google,” said Paroma Roy Chowdhury, Senior Director, Public Affairs and Asia Communications of SoftBank Group International, who was the former Google India Director and Country Head of Corporate Communications and Public Affair.
“It was not important for him to reply. He was already the CEO of Google, but he did. I wasn’t expecting a reply,” Chowdhury said.
from Firstpost Tech Latest News https://ift.tt/2sHi0ao
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