Google CEO Sundar Pichai grew up in Chennai, India. Sundar did not always have access to the telephone — not to mention the computer or the Internet. But it was such an upbringing that helped him show the world how powerful technologies can be.
The power of technology
The Pichai family has been dreaming of buying a phone for five whole years. When they finally did, neighbors even came to them to call. "It has become a common thing. People came to us to call their children," Pichai told an interview with Poppy Harlow for CNN in a new episode of Boss Files. “And for me it showed the power of technology.”
Pichai did not have a computer until he moved to the United States and entered Stanford University. But that was in the past.
He already graduated from Stanford University with a master's degree in mechanical engineering, and then earned a master's degree in business administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Before joining Google in 2004, Pichai worked at Applied Materials and McKinsey. There he held various positions, including led Chrome, was the head of the Google product and the head of the Android operating system. He became the CEO of Google only in 2015.
Are immigrants the foundation of large companies?
When asked if he believes that the American dream is still alive, Pichai said that he still believes that America is a "land of opportunity." Pichai called on Congress to protect America's Dreamers and advocated for highly skilled immigration.
“If you look at the technology industry and all the leading companies, you will notice that many of them were founded by immigrants,” he said. - Our leadership in the field of technology is based on our ability to attract the best computer scientists, researchers of artificial intelligence. I think it’s important that we continue to do this. ”
According to Pichai, becoming a Google CEO is a “lifetime opportunity.” But that was not what he asked for. He was surprised when Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin turned to him about this.
“I was busy creating products. And I did not expect at all where this will lead me, ”he said.
Ethics
In his position, Pichai faced some serious problems, including user confidentiality, gender and multinationality in the company, and employee layoffs. He has also given testimony on Capitol Hill for confidentiality and may face potential U.S. antitrust investigations into his company.
“The job of the CEO is to manage ethics and take into account the full extent of technology’s impact on society,” he said. - I consider this as the main part of my role. But I think that ethics should apply to all levels of organizations. ”
As people increasingly care about data privacy, Pichai said Google is looking for ways to make it easier for users to find information and more control over their data. For example, a company recently announced that users can automatically delete location history and web browsing activity.
“I don’t think users understand how their data is used,” he said. “We are heavily burdening users.”
Important issues
Pichai also solves many problems within the company.Last year, Google employees around the world staged strikes to protest what they said was a workplace culture that turned a blind eye to sexual harassment and discrimination.
“Our employees clearly spoke at the moment when there were misunderstandings with the company,” he said. “I think this is a good part of our culture, that we were able to recognize something publicly, and then work hard to make things better.”
In his opinion, one of the most important decisions that the company made as a result was the termination of the requirement of forced arbitration. However, some strike organizers said they felt retaliation from the company. One of the organizers left Google earlier this month.
“When it comes to managing a large-scale company, it is extremely important for me that there is no response. I take this very seriously, ”Pichai said. “We have very stringent processes with several levels of control over important areas.”
According to a recent report, women held about 33% of total Google posts and just over a quarter of senior posts. Nevertheless, Google still has a lot of work to do to increase the number of women among its employees and in high-level posts.
In 2017, Google employee James Damor, who was later fired, wrote a controversial note criticizing Google’s multinationality policy. Parts of the memorandum were condemned by Pichai, such as allegations that women are not well suited to work in the technology sector due to “biological” reasons. Damor and another former engineer sued Google for discrimination.
findings
The CEO said the most important lesson he learned at Google is to listen to other people.
“What you think inside, alone is not enough. You must hear the perspectives from the outside, and you must be open to what is happening around you in order to understand the impact of your products on life. It also contributes to continuous work to make the product better. "