On June 25, 2014, Urs Holzle, Google’s Senior Vice President of Technical Infrastructure, spoke about Google Cloud Platform at a conference in San Francisco.
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Google Employee No. 8 Urs Holzle is stepping down from management after leading the technology team for 24 years, CNBC has learned.
Recent leading technology infrastructure Google Reporting directly to Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, Holzle manages an organization of more than 12,000 full-time employees.
During the transition, Holzler will be classified as an “individual contributor,” meaning he will work independently and no longer manage staff. Holzler said in an email to employees on Tuesday that he would focus on a small number of technical tasks at a time and provide advice. Part of that will include clarifying AI technology processes, facilitating discussions and encouraging faster decision-making, his memo said.
His email goes on to say that this has been one of the most interesting and impactful years in a long time, and he’s always wanted to do more technical work.
The move comes amid a reorganization within the company’s cloud organization, according to an email from Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian seen by CNBC.
Chris Vonderhaar to lead cloud supply chain and operations and to leave amazon After 13 years at the company, he worked in Web Services, most recently as Vice President of the AWS Data Center Community. Google Cloud vice president of engineering Ben Treynor Sloss will begin reporting directly to Kurian. Kurian also pointed to a number of other changes.
Making technical decisions faster is more important than ever, Kurian’s note said.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Google is under pressure to continue growing cloud revenue after the unit reported its first profitable quarter in April. The company also faces competition from Amazon and Microsoft in cloud offerings and artificial intelligence.
In a separate reorganization of Google’s AI and research teams in April, Jeff Dean, who has long been in charge of Google’s AI work, was also classified as an “individual contributor” and given the new title of “chief scientist.” title.
The move comes as Google calls for restrictions on remote work in an attempt to bring employees back to physical offices. In 2021, Holzler announced a move to New Zealand and the company began asking employees to return to the office, sparking internal controversy that led to employees complaining of double standards for senior management.
At the most recent all-hands meeting, more company executives were on hand.
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