What makes some Google employees believe that Google AI CEO Demis Hassabis may succeed Sundar Pichai
, CEO of
Google DeepMind
is reportedly being seen by some
Google employees
as a potential successor to the current CEO
Sundar Pichai
. While there is no official word on any succession plan, a Business Insider report says Hassabis' swift rise in recent years has followed a pattern similar to that of Pichai's own journey to the top. 'His rise reminds me of Sundar's,' a longtime
employee who has worked closely with Hassabis and Pichai told the publication. 'All of a sudden, you started hearing this name Sundar internally, and he kept having more and more responsibility, and all of a sudden, he was the CEO,' the employee added.
Continuing further, the employee stated 'Demis' rise has been similar. Now, all of a sudden, he's responsible for what is probably the most important team at Google right now.'
Hassabis joined Google in 2014 when the company acquired DeepMind, the
artificial intelligence
company he co-founded with Shane Legg and Mustafa Suleyman. Post merger, Hassabis has had to shift from pure research to product development and corporate leadership. The merger also led to the departure of several
DeepMind
employees who felt the organization had moved too far from its original research mission.
'Some people joined an academic research lab and suddenly they're being asked to build products, and that's not what they wanted,' a former DeepMind employee told Business Insider.
Why some Google employees are 'betting' on Demis Hassabis as Google CEO
According to the report, Google employees are now wondering whether Hassabis is being groomed to take over as CEO someday. His deep understanding of AI and rising influence within the company make him a natural candidate — especially if Google continues its shift toward becoming an
AI-first company
. 'Hassabis is the smartest bet,' said one of the employees.
"My opinion is this is not going to happen," said another person. "But I'm less certain about that than I was a year ago."
Others believe Hassabis may not want the job. Being CEO of Google, an employee said, means overseeing massive ad and search businesses, dealing with regulatory scrutiny, and answering to shareholders — responsibilities that could take him away from the research work he loves.
'He does it because he knows the company needs it,' a Google employee said. 'But being CEO would push him away from the things he wants to do. This guy wants to cure cancer.'
Who is Demis Hassabis
Demis Hassabis is a British artificial intelligence researcher, neuroscientist, and entrepreneur best known as the co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind. Born in London, Hassabis was a child chess prodigy, becoming a master at the age of 13. He later studied computer science at Cambridge and earned a PhD in cognitive neuroscience from University College London.
In 2010, he co-founded DeepMind with the goal of creating artificial general intelligence (AGI) — machines that can think and learn like humans. Now at the helm of Google DeepMind, Hassabis leads Google's AI efforts and is seen as a potential future CEO of Google.
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