Another name that India’s illustrious education brand – IIT Kharagpur can boast of is Sundar Pichai. In a much unexpected move that led Andy Rubin to step down from the executive in charge of Google’s Android operating system and Sundar Pichai to come in as the replacement, who was in charge of Google’s Chrome Web browser and operating system for lightweight laptop computers, has made Indians across the globe give a standing ovation.
The Rise of Sundar Pichai
Born in 1972, Pichai hails from the Southern state of Tamil Nadu. He studied metallurgical and materials engineering from IIT Kharagpur and graduated in the year 1993. Pichai was known to be one of the most obedient and enthusiastic students at the institution.
IIT Kharagpur is always famous for its prodigies that include Arun Sarin, the former chief executive of Vodafone Group, and Vinod Gupta, chairman of U.S.-based venture capital and private equity firm Everest Group LLC.
Masters in engineering and materials science at Stanford University in the U.S. Later on he also got a Masters in business administration from the Wharton School of Business, where he was named a Siebel Scholar and a Palmer Scholar.
After his graduation, Pichai started working with the engineering and product management divisions of semiconductor maker Applied Materials and as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co.
Pichai at the Helm of Google
It wasn’t long before Pichai’s name started coming up with Google. In 2004, Pichai joined Google as the vice president of product management, where his duties involved leading the innovation team for Google’s Chrome and Chrome OS.
Pichai’s growth at Google was uncompromisingly fast. Pichai spearheaded other Google search products, like Google Toolbar, Chrome, Desktop Search, Gadgets, Google Pack, Google Gears, Firefox extensions, apps such as Gmail and Google Maps and Mac products.
In September 2008, Pichai was promoted as the VP of product development and he was ready to introduce the Chrome browser to an impatient world. A few weeks after Google came up with another ground breaking announcement and this time it was the Android 1.0 SDK.
But Pichai wasn’t done yet, as less than a year later, in July 2009, Pichai surprised the whole world by announcing the new Chrome OS.
The launch of both Chrome and Chrome OS propelled the search giant to a whole new space and the prominence of Pichai and his visions powered into a new public-facing role at Google. Later on Pichai presided over Google’s major announcements like the first Chromebook prototype, the launch of Chrome for Android and iOS, the revelation of Google Drive, and the recent introduction of the Chromebook Pixel.
And now there is Android! Pichai’s additional responsibility comes in at a crucial time for Google and Android, as a stint of anxiety on Samsung’s dominance over Google’s OS flaunts over the company.
This is what CEO Larry Page said about Pichai’s new role:
“Sundar has a talent for creating products that are technically excellent yet easy to use — and he loves a big bet. Take Chrome, for example. In 2008, people asked whether the world really needed another browser. Today Chrome has hundreds of millions of happy users and is growing fast thanks to its speed, simplicity and security.”
“So while Andy’s a really hard act to follow, I know Sundar will do a tremendous job doubling down on Android as we work to push the ecosystem forward,” Page said in a company blog post.
source:::::siliconindianet
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