Google has announced a key leadership change with Prabhakar Raghavan, the senior vice president responsible for Google Search, Assistant, Ads, Commerce, and Payments, stepping into the role of Chief Technologist. Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, shared the news on October 17, marking a significant shift as the company faces growing competition from tech rivals like Microsoft, OpenAI, and emerging startups such as Perplexity.
This reshuffle comes at a critical time for Google’s core search business, which is being pressured by changes in consumer behavior and rapid advancements in AI technologies.
A New Chapter For Prabhakar Raghavan
In an internal memo, Pichai praised Raghavan’s contributions over the last 12 years and emphasized the significance of his new role. “Prabhakar has decided it’s time to make a big leap in his own career,” Pichai wrote. “After leading teams across Google for more than a decade, he’ll return to his computer science roots and take on the role of Chief Technologist.”
Raghavan’s new responsibilities are expected to focus on advancing the company’s technological capabilities in the ever-evolving digital landscape. Nick Fox, a long-time Google veteran and a member of Raghavan’s leadership team, will take over his previous position, ensuring a seamless transition in leadership.
Strategic Team Reshuffle
Raghavan’s appointment comes amidst a broader reshuffling of Google’s Knowledge and Information (K&I) team, aimed at enhancing the company’s technological edge. Sundar Pichai explained the motivation behind the restructuring, stating that bringing the teams closer together will “improve feedback loops, enable fast deployment of our new models in the Gemini app, make our post-training work more efficient, and build on our great product momentum.”
The reshuffle aims to streamline operations as Google accelerates its push into AI-driven products, competing directly with other tech giants who are making significant strides in artificial intelligence and search technologies.
Who Is Prabhakar Raghavan?
Prabhakar Raghavan, 64, is no stranger to the world of technology. Before joining Google in 2012, he was with Yahoo, where he worked on search, ad ranking, and marketplace design. His career at Google started with leading Google Apps and Google Cloud, overseeing engineering, products, and user experience. During this period, he helped launch AI-driven features like Smart Reply and Smart Compose, contributing to the widespread adoption of Gmail and Google Drive, which now serve over a billion users.
In 2018, Raghavan took over from Sridhar Ramaswamy as the senior vice president of Google Search, Assistant, Geo, Ads, Commerce, and Payments products. Under his leadership, notable features like AI Overviews, video understanding, and “Shop What You See” in Lens were introduced, helping to enhance user experience and further solidify Google’s dominance in the search and e-commerce space.
Raghavan also addressed public criticisms, particularly when Google’s Gemini app faced backlash for inaccuracies regarding historical figures. In a company blog post, he apologized and outlined steps to fix the issue, demonstrating his accountability and leadership in challenging situations.
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