Google CEO Sundar Pichai announces major change in company leadership; read his memo to Googlers

Google has announced a major reshuffle at the top of the company. In a memo to employees, also posted online, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that the company long-time research head Prabhakar Raghavan will transition to the role of Chief Technologist. Besides research, Senior Vice President Raghavan is in charge of advertisements and some other important segments.
Raghavan, who has been instrumental in Google’s growth over the past decade, will now focus on fostering a culture of technological excellence and providing strategic technical direction. He will work closely with Pichai and other Google executives to ensure the company remains at the forefront of innovation. .
“Prabhakar decided it was time to take a big step forward in his own career,” Pichai wrote. “After 12 years leading teams at Google, he will return to his computing roots and take on the role of Chief Technologist at Google. In this role, he will work closely with me and Google executives to provide direction and technical leadership and develop our culture of technological excellence.
To fill Raghavan’s shoes, Google has named Nick Fox, a seasoned leader in the company’s search and advertising division.. Fox, who played a central role in the development of products such as Google Fi and RCS messaging, will now oversee Google’s search, ads, geolocation and commerce operations.
In addition to these management changes, Google is also reorganizing some of its research and development teams. The Gemini app team, led by Sissie Hsaio, will now be integrated into Google DeepMind, the company’s AI research subsidiary. Meanwhile, the Google Assistant team will be part of Google’s platforms and devices division.

Here is the memo that Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent to Google employees:

Hello Googlers,
It’s been an exciting few days for AI in our products. We’ve seen NotebookLM with audio previews go viral, added more ways to find information in Search and Lens, and launched a revamped Google Shopping for the AI ​​era. We also just shared a milestone in our work to help doctors use AI to detect diabetic retinopathy: 600,000 screenings and counting, and we’re expanding access to more people in India and Thailand. There is much more to come.
AI is evolving faster than any technology before it. To continue to accelerate the pace of our progress, we’ve made changes to simplify our structures over time, including the creation of Google DeepMind and the consolidation of the Platforms and Devices teams. As a next step, Prabhakar and I thought about how to structure our Knowledge and Information team for the Age of Gemini, and today we shared the following changes:
The Gemini app team led by Sissie will join Google DeepMind under Demis’ leadership. As the name suggests, the Gemini app is the direct consumer interface to the latest and greatest Gemini models. Bringing teams together will improve feedback loops, enable rapid deployment of our new models in the Gemini app, make our post-training work more efficient, and build on the tremendous momentum of our products.
Assistant teams focused on devices and home experiences will migrate across platforms and devices so they can sit closer to the product surfaces they build for and consolidate our AI-driven home initiatives into one team and focus on improving the user experience.
At the same time, Prabhakar decided it was time to take a big step forward in his own career. After 12 years leading teams at Google, he will return to his roots in IT and take on the role of Chief Technologist at Google. In this role, he will work closely with me and Google executives to provide technical direction and leadership and grow our culture of technology excellence. Nick Fox, a long-time Googler and member of Prabhakar’s leadership team, will take the helm of K&I, which includes our search, ads, geolocation and commerce products.
Prabhakar’s leadership journey at Google has been remarkable, spanning search, workspace, ads, and K&I. He led the Gmail team by launching Smart Reply and Smart Compose as early examples of using AI to improve products, and helped Gmail and Drive surpass 1 billion users. Across K&I, Prabhakar and his team have achieved significant growth and innovation: from the launch of AI Overviews, a revolutionary advance in research that benefits hundreds of millions of users worldwide, to to the introduction of new search modalities such as Circle to Search, video understanding and “buy what you see”. ” in Lens, while improving core search functionality. Maps and Shopping have been transformed with AI-powered features like Immersive View and Virtual Try-On. And in Ads, we’ve achieved real progress with AI-driven ad formats and streamlined campaign management, while continuing to innovate with Performance Max to empower millions of businesses.
I am very grateful to Prabhakar for the strong foundation and leadership he has built at K&I. This includes his incredible senior leadership and Nick who is ready to launch into his new role as Executive Vice President of K&I!
Over the past several years, Nick has been instrumental in developing Google’s AI product roadmap and has worked closely with Prabhakar and his leadership team on K&I strategy. And throughout his career, Nick has demonstrated leadership in nearly every facet of K&I, from product and design in research and assistant, to our shopping, travel and payment products . He was also a pioneering leader in the advertising space, where he helped establish a rigorous quality and user-focused approach that remains key to our success. Nick has launched innovative consumer products like Google Fi and led complex initiatives like RCS messaging. I frequently turn to Nick to answer our toughest product questions and he consistently makes progress with tenacity, speed and optimism.
Congratulations to Nick and a sincere thank you to Prabhakar for his leadership through many technological changes and for building a strong foundation for the future.
-Sundar