Google CEO names new head of search and advertising and appoints predecessor as CTO

Google replaces Prabhakar Raghavan, the company’s search and advertising chief, with long-time Google executive Nick Fox.

The move was announced by Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, who said in a blog post on Thursday that Raghavan would take on the role of chief technologist after 12 years leading teams across the search company. Raghavan will continue to report to Pichai in the new CTO role, the company told CNBC in a statement.

“Prabhakar has decided that it is time to take a big leap in his own career,” Pichai wrote in the post. “In this role, he will work closely with me and Google executives to provide technical leadership and leadership and further develop our culture of technical excellence.”

The move comes as Google continues to restructure its teams to move faster in the artificial intelligence arms race, where the company faces increasing competition. The company is also dealing with multiple antitrust lawsuits related to its search and advertising businesses.

Fox has been a long-time member of Raghavan’s leadership team. He will lead Google’s knowledge and information division, which includes the company’s search, advertising and commerce products, Pichai said.

Fox has been with Google since 2003 and in recent years was vice president of product and design for the company’s Assistant product. He previously worked in the company’s advertising division.

“Over the past few years, Nick has been instrumental in shaping Google’s AI product roadmap and worked closely with Prabhakar,” Pichai wrote.

Raghavan headed the knowledge and information unit since 2018. Earlier this year, he urged employees to prepare for a different market reality because “things are not the same as they were 15 to 20 years ago,” CNBC reported.

Additionally, Pichai announced that the team working on Google’s Gemini app, which includes Google’s AI direct-to-consumer products, will join Google DeepMind, led by AI chief Demis Hassabis.

“Bringing the teams closer will improve feedback loops and enable rapid deployment of our new models in the Gemini app,” Pichai wrote.

The move also means the assistant teams focused on devices and home experiences will move to the Platforms and Devices department “so they can sit closer to the product surfaces they are building for,” Pichai wrote.

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