The Future of Google
Pichai: The Future of Google is an incisive look into the world’s most innovative Tech company and the man chosen to lead it.
On 10th August 2015, an unassuming product expert who learnt his ropes at IIT Kharagpur was declared the next CEO of tech giant Google. Sundar Pichai’s appointment was hardly an unexpected one. Pichai is a man known as much for his veritable Midas touch with every product he has developed or led for Google – Chrome, Chrome OS and Android, to name just a few – as for his superlative people skills and open-minded approach to innovation.
Yet, the company’s decision to restructure its product lines and appoint Pichai as the head of a leaner, more focused Google, has raised inevitable questions:
Pichai: The Future of Google provides answers to these questions while throwing light on Sunder Pichai’s childhood and education; his entry into the tech world and the rapid rise up the ranks in Google; and his key contributions as a leader and tech-guru to Google’s most successful properties.
Timely and insightful, this book offers a rare glimpse into the fascinating ecosystem of a path-breaking company and shows us what it takes to be a dynamic leader in the 21st century.
(Extracted from Part 1: The Dreamer)
‘The thing that attracted me to Google and to the internet in general is that it’s a great equalizer. I want Google to strive to do that; not just build technology for certain segments. For me, it matters that we drive technology as an equalizing force, as an enabler for everyone around the world’ – Sundar Pichai
The inception of an idea!
The Mobile World Congress (MWC) today is veritably the largest exposition for the mobile industry. It’s the place where head honchos from various mobile operators, technology providers, manufacturers and content owners meet to talk about the latest innovations and happenings in the mobile world. And the impact all of this will have on users of mobile services and devices all over the world. The 2015 Mobile World Congress was no exception. In fact, it has been the largest such gathering ever in the history of the exhibition. Imagine 94,000 participants from 200 countries, with more than 2,000 organizations in one place!
What marked this particular event though was not just the significant number of attendees, but the speech given by a Google representative, introduced by Brad Stone of Bloomberg Business Week. Interestingly, Brad Stone – in a June 2014 article in his magazine – had referred to this very person as ‘the most powerful man in mobile’. This man was none other than Sundar Pichai, then senior vice president at Google, and currently the CEO of the legendary company.
As thousands of people gathered at the Congress in Barcelona listened with bated breath to Sundar’s dreams and plans of a ‘mobile Google’, one might have been forgiven for letting their mind wander through the mists of past to a place called Ashok Nagar at Chennai in India; where 30 years ago, a 12-year-old Sundar Pichai held a rotary phone in his young hands. The first phone he and his family had ever owned!
It was perhaps right then that the possibilities of what a phone could do flooded Sundar’s mind. While it may be conjecture, one feels compelled to surmise that his love for technology and its unlimited power to make positive changes for people everywhere, may have germinated within his being in that very moment.
This section mainly includes Q&A on the book. Some questions however may be about the author too. In case you have any queries that are not covered here, you are welcome to write to Jagmohan Bhanver on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Alternatively, you may write to him at jagmohan.bhanver@iifmonline.com
Pichai: The Future of Google is an insightful and inspiring book on one of the most iconic Tech companies in the world. However, it is not limited to the company. Rather, it throws light on the charismatic CEO of Google and his rise through the ranks of the company in a very short period. The book also includes fascinating and rare incidents about Google and some of its products that are not common knowledge. The book in a way continuously moves between the man (Sundar Pichai) and the organization (Google) he leads today.
Certainly not! This book is about Sundar Pichai the person; not Pichai the Engineer! It’s an interesting and inspiring read and people from any background or sphere in life will find it equally entertaining and motivating.
The book is divided into five logical parts. Each section deals with specific stages in Pichai’s life and shares relevant incidents and facts about that stage. The fifth and last part (The Rainmaker) is an endeavor to consider the future challenges facing Google and what Pichai can do to strengthen the company’s position in the market.
The book has been structured in such a manner that each section provides a more or less independent account of Pichai and Google. However, if one were to read it from cover to cover, it shouldn’t take a person more than three hours to finish the same.
In the seventeen years of Google’s history (prior to Pichai’s ascension as CEO), the company had only two CEOs. The first one was Eric Schmidt (a veteran from the tech sector), followed by Larry Page (the co-founder) who remained CEO from 2011 to 2015, till Pichai took over the reins of the company. Eric had been involved with Google since 2001 and remained as CEO till 2011. And Page of course was a co-founder.
However, Pichai was more of an outsider. He was not among the early crop of Google employees. He joined Google in 2004 by which time Google was already a name to reckon with. Within a short time of 11 years, he rose to become CEO of one of the largest tech companies in the world, ahead of several other potential contenders. Hopefully, his story will be inspiring for people everywhere.
I had previously written a book on Satya Nadella and Microsoft (Nadella: The Changing Face of Microsoft), published by Hachette. The book was an instant success and inspired thousands of people across the world with Nadella’s story. A year after this, Hachette India approached me and asked me if I would be interested to write a book on Sundar Pichai. This was at a time when Pichai had taken over the Product function and had turned around Android too. He was at that time a serious contender for the CEO role at Google.
I was a little hesitant to take on the project because at that time I was beginning work on my novel, Rise of the Yadavas (the second part in the Krishna trilogy). However, I had always been captivated by Pichai’s story and I knew he would inspire hundreds of thousands of Indians and youngsters from other nations. I decided to delay the novel and told Hachette I would love to do the book. Hachette commissioned the book and we started the arduous process of giving shape to a book that we felt could inspire several people across the globe.
No. It got delayed because after Pichai: The Future of Google, I worked on another project for Hachette, which involved writing the first book on the ecommerce sector in India. That book was titled, Click: the amazing story of India’s ecommerce boom and where it is headed. It took me two years to complete that one. After that, I had some serious health issues which prevented me from writing. However, the second volume of the Krishna trilogy is now almost ready and will soon be sent to the publishers.
Well, I love interacting with people. This was one of the main reasons I left a lucrative banking career a decade back. The idea was to have more time and freedom to interact with people, without having any specific agenda in mind.
Well, I love interacting with people. This was one of the main reasons I left a lucrative banking career a decade back. The idea was to have more time and freedom to interact with people, without having any specific agenda in mind.