The Innovator’s Dilemma: Sundar Pichai’s Take on Navigating a Large Corporation and His Anticipation for the Year Ahead

At one point, Levin asked what Pichai tried to do to keep a company of 200,000 people innovative against all the startups battling to disrupt its business. So I think, I think how do you as a company move fast? “We recently said, we went back to a notion we had in early Google of Google Labs. How do you allow people to prototype more easily internally and get it out to people?”Later, Levin asked what advances Pichai was most excited about this year. Levin and Pichai start around 1 hour and 18 minutes in.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai on Running a Tech Giant

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, recently spoke at a Stanford event hosted by the university’s business school. Despite facing challenges in the tech industry, Pichai offered insights on how he manages one of the most valuable companies in the world.

Late to the Game:
It’s no secret that Google has been lagging behind Microsoft-funded OpenAI when it comes to generative AI. Pichai’s company has been focused on AI for the past decade, and even created the groundbreaking transformer model paper that kickstarted the generative AI revolution. However, their recent project, Gemini LLM, received criticism for inaccurately depicting historical figures with different racial backgrounds. This raised questions about overcorrection and bias within the company.

A Friendly Exchange:
The interviewer, Stanford Graduate School of Business Dean Jonathan Levin, had a personal connection with Pichai. He revealed at the end of the conversation that the two had sons who were in a middle school band together. Despite this connection, Levin still asked challenging questions, to which Pichai responded with his unique way of thinking rather than direct answers.

The Challenge of Innovation:
One question Levin posed was how Pichai keeps a large company like Alphabet innovative in the face of disruptive startups. Pichai admitted that it’s something he constantly worries about. “Scale doesn’t always guarantee success,” he remarked, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a culture of risk-taking within the company. He acknowledged that larger organizations tend to become more risk-averse, and that conscious effort is needed to push teams to take ambitious initiatives.

The Difficulty of Incentives:
When asked about Google’s specific tactics for promoting innovation, Pichai pointed out the challenges of creating the right incentives. He raised the question of how to reward effort and risk-taking, rather than just outcomes. He noted how easily people can game the system if only outcomes are rewarded, leading to conservative decisions and missed opportunities.

Remembering Risk-Taking:
Pichai reflected on a time when Google was more willing to take unconventional risks, referencing their attempt at augmented reality with Google Glass. “We recently went back to an early notion of Google Labs,” he shared, describing a new program that allows for lighter weight experimentation and prototyping within the company.

Advances to Come:
Levin also asked Pichai about the exciting advancements happening at Google this year. Pichai highlighted the multimodality of their latest LLM, which can process various types of inputs simultaneously. He also mentioned the potential for connecting different answers to create smarter workflows, jokingly suggesting it could even make billing systems at Stanford Hospital easier.

To Watch the Full Interview:
To see the entire conversation between Levin and Pichai, as well as an interview with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, check out the video on YouTube. The discussion between Levin and Pichai starts around 1 hour and 18 minutes in.