Google names Prabhakar Raghavan as chief technologist amid AI push 

Amid a push to lead in the artificial intelligence (AI) era, technology giant Google has elevated senior Indian American executive Prabhakar Raghavan from leading search engine and ads products, to the role of Chief Technologist.

His current roles at the company’s core moneymaking business have been transferred to Nick Fox, a long-time Google executive. With both Raghavan and Fox having strong backgrounds in AI, Google aims to accelerate progress in the segment.The move was announced by Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, who said in a blog post Thursday that Raghavan will be moving into the role of chief technologist after 12 years of leading teams across the search company. Raghavan will continue to report to Pichai in the new role.

“Prabhakar has decided it’s time to make a big leap in his own career,” Pichai wrote in the post. “After 12 years leading teams across Google, Raghavan will return to his computer science roots and take on the role of Chief Technologist.”

“In this role, he’ll partner closely with me and Google leads to provide technical direction and leadership, and grow our culture of tech excellence. Fox will be stepping up to lead K&I (Knowledge & Information) team, which includes Search, Ads, Geo, and Commerce products.”

The move comes as Google continues to restructure its teams to move more quickly in the artificial intelligence arms race, where it faces increased competition. The company is also dealing with several antitrust lawsuits related to its search and ads business.

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Raghavan has led the knowledge and information unit since 2018. Earlier this year, he told employees to prepare for a different market reality because “things are not like they were 15-20 years ago,” CNBC reported.

Additionally, Pichai announced that the team working on Google’s Gemini app, which includes Google’s AI direct-to-consumer products, will join Google DeepMind under AI head Demis Hassabis. “Bringing the teams closer together will improve feedback loops, enable fast deployment of our new models in the Gemini app, make post-training work proceed more efficiently and build on its great product momentum” Pichai wrote.

The move also means the Assistant teams focused on devices and home experiences will move to the Platforms and Devices unit “so they can sit closer to the product surfaces they’re building for,” Pichai wrote.

Google noted that to keep increasing the pace of progress in AI, it has been making shifts to simplify structures, including the creation of Google DeepMind and the joining of the Platforms & Devices teams.

READ: Nadella hits out at Pichai-led Google in Amit Mehta’s court (October 3, 2023)

With the latest CXO movements, the company aims to strengthen its race in AI amid surging competition. Google also is helping doctors use AI to detect diabetic retinopathy, with 600,000 screenings and counting.

(This story was originally published by the American Bazaar.)