Sundar Pichai wants to give back to India one day
A successful Indian, settled miles away from his homeland, serving at one of the biggest companies in the world, but also hoping to come back to Indian one day and give back to his country of birth — this sounds like a story plot for a movie like Swades. But then this is also what Google CEO Sundar Pichai seems to have on his mind.
In an interview with The Guardian, Pichai talks about his life as a kid on the streets of Madurai, about running the multi-billion-dollar company, about leading arguably one of the world’s most powerful companies ever, about how the technology is changing the world in nice ways and in not so nice ways, and his own aspirations and dreams. It is a slightly more personal interview than usual, and not just about the business of Google and the work of a CEO. He got more followers after his Cockroach theory . At one point in the interview, Pichai says that one day he wants to come back to India and wants to “give back”.
Google CEO believes that India is the home for best engineering minds in the world. Recent Google releases like tap-to-translate and Tez payment app are the great examples of Google’s products for India. Sundar Pichai reveals that he wishes to come back to India and give back the country’s needs. He would like to be part of the technology transformation in India.
Sundar Pichai acknowledges the number of issues related to Google’s India operations. He also highlights company’s struggle with the European Union and tax issues faced in India. He is personally getting involved in fixing these operational issues and ethics of technology and AI. Google CEO was born to a middle-class family in Madurai in 1972.
Google seemingly has more India-centric programmes and features after Pichai took over the role of Google CEO in 2015. In his keynote at an event named Google for India, Pichai had said that Google has big plans for India as the company realized that India was home to some of the best engineering minds in the world. The Tap-To-Translate and the latest Google payment app called as Tez are few of the examples of the products made for India by Google.
Apart from his India connection, Pichai in his interview talks about a number of issues related to Google’s current operations. He even acknowledges the controversies that have touched Google in the recent months, including the tax issues, the company’s struggles with the European Union and even the ethics of technology and artificial intelligence.
One of the most important statements that Pichai makes in the interview is related to how technology is going to shape the world and whether it is a force for good or if it is something that is leaving the world broken. “I recognize that, in the Valley, people are obsessed with the pace of technological change,” he tells the British newspaper. “It’s tough to get that part right… We rush sometimes, and can misfire for an average person. As humans, I don’t know whether we want change that fast – I don’t think we do.”
Pichai was born to a middle-class family in Madurai in 1972. After completing his schooling from Chennai, he graduated from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur in metallurgical engineering. He also holds an M.S. degree from Stanford university and MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
