'Life has not changed much at Google after Sundar Pichai's elevation'

BENGALURU: Life at Google has not changed much after the elevation of Sundar Pichai as its CEO, as the Internet company has many Indians holding senior positions, Marketing Director for Google India Sandeep Menon said today.

"Well if you look at Google a lot of senior people have been Indians, and so the life has not changed much," Menon told reporters here while responding to a query if there was a change in the mood of the company after India-born Pichai was elevated to Chief Executive Officer's post.

Menon who participated in the Google event showcasing latest product innovations said Indians have always been there working for the company.

"We have Indians such as Amit Singhal as Search Chief and Sridhar Ramaswamy as Ads Senior Vice President. Sundar Pichai has always been senior. Forty per cent engineer based employees would be Indians. So, it is not that there is any dearth of Indians. They have always been there," he said.

Asked when is Pichai expected to visit the country, Menon said, "I cannot say when."

To a query, Menon said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be meeting Pichai on his visit to the Silicon Valley in the US. "They have tweeted to each other and I am hoping they will meet."

On the possibility of Google India sharing details about the investments and budget earmarked in the context of Modi-Pichai meeting, Menon said, "Too early to say anything. We have been eleven years, it is not that we haven't invested."

Asked about the fallout from Modi-Pichai meeting, Menon said, "Let the big guys meet and decide ...within a month's time we will know what comes out of the meeting."