Google CEO Sundar Pichai's joining Alphabet's board shows his importance to both companies

Having been Google‘s CEO for almost two years, it likely comes as good news for Sundar Pichai that he was appointed to parent company Alphabet‘s board of directors while not needing to give up his CEO position.

Google co-founder and Alphabet CEO Larry Page had nothing but praise for Pichai and the work he has done at Google:

Sundar has been doing a great job as Google’s CEO, driving strong growth, partnerships, and tremendous product innovation. I really enjoy working with him and I’m excited that he is joining the Alphabet board.

Pichai’s appointment brings the total number of Google executives on Alphabet’s board to two, the second being Diane Greene, who leads Google’s cloud businesses. In total, Alphabet’s board includes 13 directors, which include Google and Alphabet co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, former Ford CEO Alan Mullaly, and others.

As for Pichai himself, his appointment to Alphabet’s board is representative of his still-growing importance within Google. Before becoming CEO, Pichai led product management for Google Chrome, Chrome OS, and other products. Pichai also oversaw development of Gmail, Google Maps, and Android during his pre-CEO years.

Since becoming the company’s CEO in 2015, Google has invested heavily in artificial intelligence to bolster its existing product lines. The company has also dabbled in the design, development, and marketing of its own hardware, such as the Pixel and Pixel XL, Home, and Pixel C.