一位印度裔中層經理如何火箭般晉升爲谷歌二號人物

When Google announced that it had built a Web browser on Labor Day in 2008, the event represented something of a coming out party for SundarPichai, a little-known and soft-spoken middle manager at the company. Based on how the launch went, no one would have predicted that six years later, Pichai would be where is today—a clear No. 2 to CEO Larry Page following a management shakeup late last week.

當谷歌(Google)在2008年勞動節那天宣佈該公司將推出一款網頁瀏覽器時，很少有人意識到，這場發佈會在某種程度上也成了桑德爾o皮查伊的亮相會，將這個籍籍無名、說話輕聲軟語的中層經理從幕後推到臺前。從那場發佈會的過程看，恐怕沒有人會料到，在6年後的今天，皮查伊會登上今天這個高度——在上週末的一場管理層地震後，皮查伊顯然已經成爲谷歌公司僅次於CEO拉里o佩奇的二號人物。

Indeed, the launch of the Chrome browser was something of a debacle. Google GOOG 0.18% had worked hard behind the scenes to orchestrate a media splash. It had readied talking points to explain why it was reigniting a browser war with Microsoft MSFT -0.48% , and why its erstwhile ally, Mozilla, maker of the Firefox browser, shouldn’t worry. As part of it, the company had secretly produced an elaborate, 38-page comic book that explained the unique features of Google’s browser. It was expected to land in the mailboxes of journalists and bloggers on that Tuesday just as they returned from the three-day weekend.

實際上，Chrome瀏覽器的發佈會最終演變爲一場災難。谷歌在幕後做了大量準備工作，希望捧出一場媒體盛宴。它還準備了一些發言要點，以解釋爲什麼要重新點燃與微軟(Microsoft)的瀏覽器大戰，以及爲什麼它的昔日盟友——火狐瀏覽器(Firefox)的製造商Mozilla不必擔心。谷歌還祕密準備了一份詳盡的、長達38頁的插圖手冊，用來解釋Chrome瀏覽器的獨特功能。谷歌安排在那個週二把它發送到與會記者和博主的電子郵箱裏。這樣一來，參加完三天活動的與會者們剛剛踏進家門，就能收到谷歌發來的圖文並茂的Chrome指南。

But the comic books arrived in Germany on Monday, and it was not a holiday there. After a German blogger posted the comic book online, the Chrome team had to scramble to handle the fiasco. Top executives, including Pichai’s boss at the time, Marissa Mayer, were summoned to the Googleplex. After quick but spirited debate, the team decided to move up the announcement by a day. As engineers scrambled to make Chrome available for download from Google’s network of data centers, public relations staff started to alert reporters—most of whom where on holiday—one by one.

但是這本小冊子卻意外地於星期一率先登陸德國，而那天德國並不放假。當一位德國博主將這本小冊子上傳到網上之後，Chrome團隊只得手忙腳亂地處理這個意外。包括皮查伊的上司瑪麗莎o梅耶爾在內的一衆谷歌高管，都被召集到谷歌總部開會。經過快速但激烈的討論，谷歌高層決定提前一天發佈聲明。爲了讓用戶能夠及時地從谷歌數據中心下載Chrome，工程師們開始火急火燎地做各種準備工作，公關部門也開始一個一個地給記者們打電話——其中大多數人那天還在休假。

Embarrassing as it was, the snafu was quickly forgotten. Chrome, which launched amid skepticism that it could make inroads against the dominant browsers of the time, Internet Explorer and Firefox, became a runaway hit. It is now the No. 1 browser in the world, with a market share that’s more than twice that of the once dominant Internet Explorer, according to StatCounter. Its success paved the way for a series of related strategically important products including Chrome OS, Chromebooks, and Chromecast. And it became the engine that powered Pichai through one of the fastest corporate ascents in the technology industry.

雖然這段小插曲有些尷尬，但它很快就被人忘掉了。儘管當時很多人懷疑Chrome能否挑戰當時的主流瀏覽器——IE和火狐，但是Chrome的確很快火了起來。據StatCounter統計，Chrome現在已成爲全球第一大瀏覽器，其市場份額已經超過了IE的兩倍。Chrome的成功也爲一系列具有重要戰略意義的產品鋪平了道路，其中包括Chrome OS操作系統、Chromebook筆記本電腦和Chromecast電視棒等。同時它的成功也令皮查伊在谷歌扶搖直上，成爲科技行業中晉升最快的新銳人物之一。

Inside Google, however, Pichai had already made his mark as a director of product management for an obscure but important weapon in the company’s arsenal: the Google toolbar. The toolbar was critical because it helped Google make its search engine the default option on IE and Firefox. And Pichai’s role in leading the product as it came under attack from Microsoft, helped cement his standing in the company, as detailed in a Fortune story titled The Dawn of the Chrome Age earlier this year:

實際上，皮查伊此前擔任產品管理總監時，就已經憑藉一個不起眼但非常重要的工具在谷歌內部揚名立萬了，它就是谷歌工具欄。谷歌工具欄之所以重要，是因爲它幫助谷歌使其搜索引擎成爲IE和火狐瀏覽器的默認設置。皮查伊負責這款產品時成功抵抗了來自微軟的攻擊，從而鞏固了他在公司的地位。《財富》今年年初的一篇文章《Chrome時代的開始》這樣寫道：

“Chrome had another, less public mission: to defend the search engine that accounts for most of Google’s $59.8 billion in 2013 revenues and $12.9 billion in profits. Since 2000, Google had distributed a browser toolbar that made its search engine the default on IE and Firefox. (The toolbar also allowed Google to track users’ surfing habits.)”

“Chrome有另一個不太廣爲人知的任務：保護谷歌的搜索引擎，因爲它貢獻了谷歌2013年598億美元營收和129億美元利潤的大部分。從2000年以來，谷歌大範圍推廣它的瀏覽器工具欄，從而使其搜索引擎成爲IE和火狐瀏覽器的默認設置。（該工具欄也使谷歌得以追蹤用戶的‘瀏覽習慣’。）”

The toolbar — as geeky and benign as it sounds — was a key locus of Google’s combat with Microsoft. Pichai was the group’s leader, and by the mid-aughts he worried that Microsoft would modify IE to make it more difficult, or even impossible, for users to install the toolbar. In a series of sometimes tense conversations with top brass around the time of a major update to IE in October 2006, Pichai argued that Microsoft could threaten a sizable chunk of Google’s business, according to two executives who were there. “It was a doomsday-like scenario,” one of the executives says. Shortly after, Google execs gave Chrome the green light.

這個工具欄（雖然聽起來既親切又討厭）是谷歌與微軟的交鋒焦點，而皮查伊正是該部門的領導者。到2000年代中期，皮查伊擔心微軟可能會對IE做出修改，使用戶更難甚至完全無法安裝谷歌工具欄。2006年10月，IE做出了一次重大升級。就在這段時間前後，皮查伊與公司高層進行了一系列有時甚至很緊張的會談，強調微軟有可能威脅到谷歌的相當一部分業務。據兩位當時參會的谷歌高管回憶：“那簡直就是一個‘末日方案’。”不久後，谷歌高層就決定開發自己的瀏覽器Chrome。

After the launch of Chrome, Pichai was promoted to vice president and later to senior vice president. He was given oversight for Google’s apps, including Gmail, and became a member of the exclusive L-team, the small group of executives who report directly to Page. And when Android creator Andy Rubin left to begin a secret robotics project within Google, Page put Pichai in charge of Android as well.

Chrome發佈後，皮查伊被提拔爲副總裁，後來又升任高級副總裁，負責管理包括谷歌郵箱(Gmail)在內的一系列谷歌應用。同時他也進入了谷歌高層的核心小圈子，成爲少數幾個直接向拉里o佩奇報告工作的人之一。後來安卓操作系統(Android)的創建人安迪o魯賓卸任，轉而在谷歌內部領導一個祕密的機器人項目，拉里o佩奇便任命皮查伊一併負責安卓業務。

With his latest promotion, which is meant to allow Page to focus on longer term issues and on pushing products forward without the overhead of having too many direct reports, Pichai will now also oversee products like search, maps, Google+, commerce, ad products and infrastructure. That’s the vast majority of Google’s enterprise, with the exception of YouTube and other semi-independent units like Nest, Google X, and Calico. Just six years ago, he was one of dozens of mid-level Googlers with the title of director of product management.

皮查伊最近一次升職後，拉里o佩奇將把主要精力放在更長期的問題上，而不必每天聽太多彙報、處理太多事務。皮查伊現在也將開始負責搜索、地圖、Google +、商務、廣告產品和基礎架構等工作。換句話說，他負責的工作已經涵蓋了谷歌絕大多數業務，只有YouTube、Nest、Google X和Calico等半獨立的事業部除外。僅僅6年前，他還是幾十個名不見經傳的谷歌中層幹部中的一員，頭銜也僅僅是“產品管理總監”而已。

Pichai, 42, is a native of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He attended university in India before obtaining a graduate degree in engineering and materials science at Stanford. He earned an MBA at the Wharton School and worked at McKinsey and Applied Materials before joining Google in 2004. He is universally well-liked at Google, where he seems to enjoy a “warm, easygoing rapport” with Page, as well as outside the company. When news of his latest promotion to head all of Google’s products came out last week, venture capitalist Om Malik, a former blogger, tweeted what was in the mind of many: “Proof nice guys can win.”

今年42歲的皮查伊出生於印度南部的泰米爾納德邦。大學畢業後，他赴美留學，先後獲得了斯坦福大學(Stanford University)工程與材料科學的研究生學位，沃頓商學院(Wharton School)MBA學位。在2004年加盟谷歌前，他曾在麥肯錫（McKinsey）和應用材料公司（Applied Materials）工作過。他在公司內外是個人見人愛的人物，同時與佩奇也保持着“溫和、隨意的親密關係”。皮查伊將領導谷歌所有產品的消息是在上週透露的，當時前博主、風投家歐姆o馬利克就曾在Twitter上發表了一句很多人都贊同的感言：“這證明好人有好報。”