Sundar Pichai, born on June 10, 1972,
is a prominent Indian-born American business executive who currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Alphabet Inc. and its subsidiary, Google. Pichai’s journey into the tech industry began as a materials engineer. After a brief stint at the management consulting firm McKinsey & Co., he joined Google in 2004.
During his tenure at Google, Sundar Pichai played a pivotal role in product management and innovation, particularly with a focus on various client software products. Some of the notable projects he led include Google Chrome and ChromeOS, Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Maps.
In 2010, Pichai was instrumental in the open-sourcing of the VP8 video codec and the introduction of the WebM video format. He also oversaw the release of the Chromebook in 2012 and added Android to his list of responsibilities in 2013.
Sundar Pichai’s
ascent within Google was remarkable, as he was appointed as the company’s CEO on August 10, 2015, having previously held the position of Product Chief under CEO Larry Page. His promotion coincided with the formation of Alphabet Inc., the new holding company for Google and its subsidiaries. Pichai’s leadership was further acknowledged when he joined the Alphabet Board of Directors in 2017.
Pichai’s early life traces back to Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India, where he was born into a Tamil family. His mother, Lakshmi, worked as a stenographer, while his father, Regunatha Pichai, was an electrical engineer at GEC, a British conglomerate. His father also managed a manufacturing plant producing electrical components.
Education-wise,
Pichai attended Jawahar Vidyalaya Senior Secondary School in Ashok Nagar, Chennai, and completed his Class XII at Vana Vani school at IIT Madras. He pursued his undergraduate degree in metallurgical engineering at IIT Kharagpur, where he later became a distinguished alumnus. Pichai holds an M.S. from Stanford University in materials science and engineering and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was recognized as a Siebel Scholar and a Palmer Scholar.
In terms of recognition, Sundar Pichai received the Padma Bhushan in the category of Trade and Industry from the Government of India in 2022, one of India’s highest civilian honors.
On a personal note, Pichai is married to Anjali Pichai, and the couple has two children. Anjali hails from Kota, India, and the two met while studying together at IIT Kharagpur. Pichai has a keen interest in sports like cricket and football and practices Hinduism as his religion. He resides in Los Altos Hills, California.
