Why Google is now under Alphabet – Kola-Ogunlade

Google’s new CEO, Sundar Pichai

Search e‎ngine giant Google, recently named Sundar Pichai as its Chief Executive Officer, thus reorganizing under a new moniker, Alphabet.

In this interview with Google’s Communication and Public Affairs Manager for Anglophone West Africa, Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade,‎ he explained that Google has not changed its name, but rather, has only restructured to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alphabet, adding that the restructuring will enable the company‎ to continue to focus on creating opportunities for Nigerians and Africa leverage on the worldwide web.

 Excerpts:

Google has just been renamed Alphabet. What necessitated this development?

The restructuring became imperative, given the fact that Google is a company that makes big bets. You will recall that we first started with Search but then soon expanded to YouTube, Android, self-driving cars, Calico, among others. We have had a lot of success, but want to ensure we’re enabling the fastest, most focused innovation possible, through this recent restructuring.

As Google continues to grow, we want to empower the great leaders and employees we’ve attracted to run their businesses in ways that makes most sense to them.

From Google Inc to incubators and newer projects, we think greater autonomy will turbocharge everyone’s innovation, focus, and velocity.

This restructuring will also free up time for Google’s co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin‎ to be more ambitious, manage at scale, and operate their businesses with greater accountability.

Why did Google restructure now after 16 years of being in operation?

We restructured now, because now have many businesses that are quite independent, and may have more in the future. So, we’re establishing Alphabet to set us up for the future.

Alphabet will include Google Inc, independent companies, incubation efforts, and our investment arms-including Calico, Nest, Sidewalk Labs, Ventures, Capital, X, Access & Energy

We want each of our Alphabet companies to focus on their strengths and believe this new structure provides much greater flexibility, which we believe will lead to greater innovation, focus, and speed.

‎What happens to Google following this renaming?

Google Inc will be run by Sundar Pichai. He and Larry Page have worked together closely over the past decade, and in particular over the past year, as Sundar took over Google products. Sundar is extremely focused on driving the next wave of innovation in Google’s businesses–Google Photos, Cardboard, Google Now, and the continued success of Chrome and Android are great examples of the effects of his leadership.

How do you think this change in name will affect Google’s penetration particularly in Nigeria and Anglophone West-Africa, where you coordinate?

The Google name has not changed. It will only become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alphabet.

We will continue to focus on creating opportunities for Nigerians and Africa leverage the web for good. This new structure will allow us to keep tremendous focus on the extraordinary opportunities we have inside of Google to the benefit of the region.

Who is Sundar Pichai‎, Google’s new CEO?

As Google’s chief executive officer, Sundar Pichai is responsible for leading the overall product development and innovation efforts, as well as managing the company’s day-to-day-operations.

Sundar joined Google in 2004 and helped lead the development of Google Toolbar and Google Chrome, key consumer products which are now used by hundreds of millions of people.

 In 2014 he took over product, engineering, and research efforts for all of Google’s products and platforms. This includes Search, Maps, Communications, Google Play, Commerce, and Ads, as well as our suite of cloud-based solutions for consumers, businesses and education known as Google Apps and Cloud Platform. He’s also responsible for two of the most important platforms in computing today—Android and Chrome. After years of working closely with Google’s co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Sundar became Google’s CEO in August 2015.

Before joining Google, Sundar held positions at Applied Materials and McKinsey & Company. Sundar received a bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology and was awarded an Institute Silver Medal. He holds a master’s degree from Stanford University and an MBA from the Wharton School, where he was named a Siebel Scholar and a Palmer Scholar.

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