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Sundar Pichai on Google’s leadership and AI vision: ‘Not about replacing people’
Pichai also addressed concerns around AI potentially replacing human workers, stating firmly that the technology should be used to enhance, not displace.
Despite holding just 0.02% in Alphabet equity (about $440M), most of his net worth is in cash — a rare feat in an industry where stock options make the billionaire.
At a recent technology summit in San Francisco, Google CEO Sundar Pichai offered a rare insight into the qualities he believes are essential for his eventual successor. While he gave no indication that a leadership transition is imminent, Pichai underscored the need for a future CEO who recognises both the immense power and the responsibility that comes with leading one of the world’s most influential tech firms.
Speaking at Bloomberg’s Technology Summit, Pichai said the next Google CEO must be someone who can ensure that the company’s innovations, especially in artificial intelligence, genuinely improve people’s lives. Notably, he hinted that the future leader would likely be supported by what he called an “extraordinary AI companion”—a remark that reflects how central AI has become to Google’s long-term strategy.
Pichai also addressed concerns around AI potentially replacing human workers, stating firmly that the technology should be used to enhance, not displace. “It’s about making people more effective, not replacing them,” he said, adding that Google still plans to expand its engineering workforce through to 2026.
In a more personal reflection, Pichai recalled growing up in Chennai, India, during a period of severe water scarcity. His family, like many others, had to queue for hours to receive just eight buckets of water from government trucks. These formative experiences, he said, deeply influenced his belief that technology should be used to solve real-world problems, particularly for those in need.
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Read More“Confusion creates opportunity for agile players,” Sir Martin Sorrell on industry consolidation
Looking ahead to the close of 2025 and into 2026, Sorrell sees technology platforms as the clear winners. He described them as “nation states in their own right”, with market capitalisations that exceed the GDPs of many countries.