Google has mismanaged as the AI race heats up, says a former employee
Google is lost and could be brought down by a lack of urgency, argued a former employee who sold his company to the tech giant.
Praveen Seshadri, whose company AppSheet was acquired by Google in early 2020, joined the tech giant just before the pandemic hit.
The purchase price wasn’t publicly disclosed, but TechCrunch reported at the time that AppSheet was valued at around $60 million.
According to Seshadri’s LinkedIn profile, he left Google last month after three years as a software engineer.
In a blog post on Tuesday, Seshadri slammed Google, arguing that the tech giant has four “core cultural issues”: no mission, no urgency, exceptionalism, and mismanagement.
“These are all the natural consequences of a money-printing machine called ‘ads’, which has grown relentlessly every year and hides all other sins,” he said.
“Once Great Company”
“Now, at the end of my three-year mandatory retention period, I have left Google with the understanding that what was once a great company is slowly dying.”
Seshadri said that while Google’s thousands of employees are “skilled and well paid,” they are like “mice trapped in a maze of approvals, onboarding processes, performance reviews,” and other bureaucratic procedures.
“The mice are regularly fed their ‘cheese’ (promotions, bonuses, fancy food, fancier perks) and although many want to experience personal gratification and the impact of their work, the system trains them to suppress these inappropriate desires and learn what it is.” in fact, to be “Googley” means – just don’t rock the boat,” Seshadri claimed.
Risk mitigation trumps everything else in the company, he said, which created a work culture where multiple people’s consent was required before a decision could be made, and where deadlines were unnecessarily extended. All major decisions were made by senior executives who didn’t always have the expertise to back their commitments, Seshadri also claimed.
“[Leaders at Google] may argue and even think that it’s better to be slow and do it right, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be done right – but it’s certainly going to be done slowly,” he added. “Google can no longer seek success by avoiding risk. The way forward has to start with a culture shift, and at the top.”
“Exceptionalism mania”
Seshadri also warned that delusions that the company was extraordinary were so widespread that they had the potential to bring about Google’s demise.
“You don’t wake up every day thinking about how you should do better and how your customers deserve better and how you could do better work,” he said. “Instead, you believe that the things you already do are so perfect that they’re the only way to do it. When new people join your company, indoctrinate them. They insist on doing things because ‘that’s how we do it at Google.’”
He suggested Google make three changes to transform itself: leadership with a commitment to a mission, weeding out middle management, and phasing out “peace generals who underpromise and don’t deliver.”
“Can Google achieve a ‘soft landing’ – that is, gradually transforming and becoming a powerhouse again while steadily growing?” Seshadri considered.
“Most companies fail this test. They either gradually wither and then remain as shadows of themselves, or they fail spectacularly. Microsoft managed to turn things around, but it took exceptional leadership and a lot of luck. Google has a chance and I will support it.”
Google has not responded to this wealth‘s questions on Seshadri’s blog post.
The company, which is currently in a race with Microsoft to develop powerful AI for its search engine, is in a “fragile moment” thanks to pressure from Microsoft’s recent breakthroughs with hot product ChatGPT.
“Most people see this challenge along the technology axis, although there is now a nagging suspicion that it could be a symptom of a deeper malaise,” Seshadri said. “[But] Google’s fundamental problems lie along the culture axis and everything else reflects it.”
Earlier this month, Google parent Alphabet saw a loss of around $100 billion after its response to the AI chatbot phenomenon went awry in its first public appearance.
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