The Indian Diaspora Drives Google’s Success: A Look at Google’s Top Leaders

At the heart of the great technology industry is Google, a company that has not only become an essential part of many people’s lives, but has also paved the way for the entire technology sector. With an abundance of Indians in top positions, it’s worth thinking about how they contributed to Google’s success.

From CEO Sundar Pichai to newly appointed YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, Google and its parent company Alphabet have an impressive roster of talented individuals. This article takes a closer look at the Indian diaspora at Google and the vital role they play in the company’s business.

Neal Mohan – CEO of YouTube

Neal Mohan, who currently serves as Chief Product Officer at YouTube, was recently appointed as YouTube’s new CEO. Mohan, who has an MBA from Stanford University, joined Google in 2008 and held several key positions, including Senior Vice President of Display and Video Ads. Before joining Google, he worked at Microsoft. In 2014, Susan Wojcicki recruited Mohan for YouTube, where he has served as Chief Product Officer since 2015.

Thomas Kurian – CEO of Google Cloud

Born in the small town of Pampady in Kerala, India, Thomas Kurian is currently the leader of the Google Cloud team, aiming to accelerate the digital transformation of organizations. Kurian holds an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business and was previously President of Oracle.

Sameer Samat – VP, Product Management at Google

Sameer Samat, an entrepreneur at heart, is currently Vice President of Product Management at Google. Previously, he successfully founded and sold a number of startups, namely Source Bank and Mohomine. Samat holds a degree in Computer Science and Engineering from UC San Diego and has had an impressive career, having served as President of Jawbone and Chief Technology Officer at Kofax.

Pali Bhat – VP, Product and Design

With a wealth of experience, Pali Bhat is currently Vice President of Product and Design at Google, having previously held the role of Vice President of Product Management overseeing Payments products worldwide. Prior to joining Google, Bhat was Vice President of Product Management at SAP Labs and worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Co. He holds an MS in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as an MBA from Duke University.

Peeyush Ranjan – GM and VP Google Pay

Peeyush has had a career spanning several years where he has held various senior positions at reputable companies such as Flipkart (as the CTO), AirBnb (as VP of Engineering), HP (as Engineering Manager) and Microsoft (as a software developer) . He was educated at the renowned IIT Kharagpur in India, received an MS degree from Purdue University in the US and later completed an MBA from the University of Washington.

Amy Arora – Director, Strategy and M&A – Consumer Internet at Google

Amy holds an MBA from the prestigious Harvard Business School and is the global strategy and business development leader for Google’s core consumer internet businesses, including services such as Search, Advertising, Commerce, Payments, Travel, Maps, Education and Assistant.

Sundar Pichai – CEO of Alphabet and Google

No list of Google leaders is complete without mentioning Sundar Pichai. He has been at the forefront of Google’s efforts since taking over as CEO from Larry Page. Pichai now oversees all of Google’s products, including ads, Android, apps, maps, search, and YouTube.

Pichai’s educational background includes a B.Tech in Metallurgical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, an MSc from Stanford and an MBA from the Wharton School. In the past, he has been offered positions such as Head of Product Development at Twitter and even the role of CEO at rival company Microsoft (currently held by another Indian-born executive, Satya Nadella).

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