Pichai Sundararajan (born July 12, 1972
), better known as Sundar Pichai (), is an
Indian-American business executive. He is the
chief executive officer (CEO) of
Alphabet Inc. and its subsidiary
Google.
Born in
Chennai,
India,
Pichai earned his degree from
IIT Kharagpur in
metallurgical engineering. Moving to the
United States, he attained an
M.S. from
Stanford University in
materials science and
engineering and further attained an
MBA from the
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was named a
Siebel Scholar and a
Palmer Scholar, respectively.
Pichai began his career as a
materials engineer. He joined Google in 2004, where he led the product management and innovation efforts for a suite of Google's client software products, including
Google Chrome and
Chrome OS, as well as being largely responsible for
Google Drive. In addition, he went on to oversee the development of other applications such as
Gmail and
Google Maps. In 2010, Pichai also announced the open-sourcing of the new video codec
VP8 by Google and introduced the new video format,
WebM. The
Chromebook was released in 2012. In 2013, Pichai added
Android to the list of Google products that he oversaw.
Pichai was selected to become the next CEO of
Google on August 10, 2015, after previously being appointed
Product Chief by CEO,
Larry Page. On October 24, 2015, he stepped into the new position at the completion of the formation of
Alphabet Inc., the new
holding company for the
Google company family.
Pichai is included in ''
Time'' magazine's
100 Most Influential People of 2020.
Early life and education
Pichai was born in
Chennai,
Tamil Nadu, India.
His mother, Lakshmi, was a
stenographer, and his father, Regunatha Pichai, was an
electrical engineer at
GEC, the
British conglomerate. His father also had a manufacturing plant that produced electrical components.
Pichai grew up in a two-room apartment in
Ashok Nagar,
Chennai and had a
Hindu upbringing.
Pichai completed schooling in Jawahar Vidyalaya, a
Central Board of Secondary Education school in Ashok Nagar, Chennai and completed the Class XII from
Vana Vani school at
IIT Madras. He earned his degree from
IIT Kharagpur in
metallurgical engineering and is a distinguished alumnus from that institution. He holds an
M.S. from
Stanford University in materials science and engineering, and an
MBA from the
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was named a
Siebel Scholar and a Palmer Scholar, respectively.
Career
Pichai worked in engineering and
product management at
Applied Materials and in
management consulting at
McKinsey & Company. Pichai joined
Google in 2004, where he led the product management and innovation efforts for a suite of Google's client software products, including
Google Chrome and
Chrome OS, as well as being largely responsible for
Google Drive. He went on to oversee the development of other applications such as
Gmail and
Google Maps. On November 19, 2009, Pichai gave a demonstration of Chrome OS; the
Chromebook was released for trial and testing in 2011, and released to the public in 2012. On May 20, 2010, he announced the open-sourcing of the new video codec
VP8 by Google and introduced the new video format,
WebM.
On March 13, 2013, Pichai added
Android to the list of Google products that he oversaw. Android was formerly managed by
Andy Rubin. He was a director of
Jive Software from April 2011 to July 30, 2013.
Pichai was selected to become the next CEO of Google on August 10, 2015
after previously being appointed Product Chief by CEO,
Larry Page. On October 24, 2015 he stepped into the new position at the completion of the formation of
Alphabet Inc., the new
holding company for the Google company family.
Pichai had been suggested as a contender for
Microsoft's CEO in 2014, a position that was eventually given to
Satya Nadella.
In August 2017, Pichai drew publicity for firing a Google employee who wrote a ten-page
manifesto criticizing the company's diversity policies and arguing that "distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes and ... these differences may explain why we don't see equal representation of women in tech and leadership". While noting that the manifesto raised a number of issues that are open to debate, Pichai said in a memo to Google employees that "to suggest a group of our colleagues have traits that make them less biologically suited to that work is offensive and not OK".
In December 2017, Pichai was a speaker at the
World Internet Conference in
China, where he stated that "a lot of work Google does is to help Chinese companies. There are many small and medium-sized businesses in China who take advantage of Google to get their products to many other countries outside of China."
In December 2019, Pichai became the CEO of
Alphabet Inc.
In December 2020, Pichai delivered a speech virtually at the
Singapore FinTech Festival emphasizing inclusive
digital economy.
::The coronavirus outbreak has sped up the adoption of digital tools and trends by years........Southeast Asia's Internet economy is currently on the verge of a massive transformation......more than 40 million people in the region connected to the Internet for the first time in 2020 - four times as many as the year before......while Covid has accelerated the use of digital tools, it's also exposed how many people are still left behind......some 1.7 billion people around the world are still unbanked, a huge portion of African households do not have access to broadband and millions of women entrepreneurs lack the same access to opportunity as their male counterparts.
* Pichai said at the conclusion of his speech,
::Our goal for the post-Covid world is to ensure the benefits of technology can be shared, as widely and equitably as possible. If we can do that, 2020 will be remembered not as the end of the world, but the beginning of a world that works better for everyone.
U.S. Congress testimony
On December 11, 2018, Pichai testified before the U.S.
House Judiciary Committee on a wide range of Google-related issues such as the alleged, potential political bias on Google's platforms, the company's alleged plans for a "censored search app" in
China, and its privacy practices.
Pichai, in response, stated that Google employees cannot influence search results. He also stated that Google users can opt out of having their data collected and that "there are no current plans for a censored search engine" in China.
''
Wireds Issie Lapowsky characterized Pichai's appearance before the committee as one "major missed opportunity," since, as she wrote, its members "staked out opposite sides of a partisan battle," and presented to the public "a foreboding reminder of Congress's continued technological ignorance."
In October 2020, the
US Senate Commerce Committee unanimously voted, on bipartisan basis, to
subpoena Sundar Pichai, along with the CEOs of
Facebook and
Twitter to force them to testify before the panel about concerns over the tech industry's key legal shield, under
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1934.
Personal life
He is married to Anjali Pichai,
née Haryani, a
chemical engineer from
Kota, Rajasthan. They met as classmates at the
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. The couple have two children. Pichai's interests include
football and
cricket.
References
External links
*
"Sundar Pichai's rise to fame in 90 seconds" Tech Gurus, ''
The Daily Telegraph''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pichai, Sundar
Category:1972 births
Category:Alphabet Inc. people
Category:American people of Indian descent
Category:American people of Tamil descent
Category:Businesspeople from Chennai
Category:Businesspeople from Madurai
Category:Google employees
Category:Indian emigrants to the United States
Category:Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur alumni
Category:Living people
Category:McKinsey & Company people
Category:People from Los Altos Hills, California
Category:People from Tamil Nadu
Category:Stanford University School of Engineering alumni
Category:Tamil businesspeople
Category:Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni