Neal Mohan: newest Indian-origin CEO on the block

Synopsis Mohan’s elevation comes at a critical juncture in the video-streaming platform’s history as it faces stiff competition from ByteDance-owned TikTok and Facebook-owned Instagram in the short-duration video segment. Reuters Neal Mohan, CEO, YouTube “Minutes into his new life, he had to use a big chunk of the $20 he had on him to buy a bus ticket and get himself to campus. But he did it.

Because when you want something that bad, nothing – not even a 12-hour bus ride in January – is going to stop you. ” This was how Neal Mohan described his father’s journey to Indiana (US) to pursue a PhD programme in Purdue University in the 1960s, after he had landed at New York’s JFK Airport in the ‘dead of winter’. The same grit – the anecdote was shared at a talk in 2019 – may have helped Mohan land the top job at Google’s video-sharing platform YouTube after long-time chief executive Susan Wojcicki stepped down on Thursday.

Interestingly, it was in Wojcicki’s garage that Google was set up. Mohan joins an elite list of Indian-origin CEOs at the helm of US-based global giants, including Microsoft chief Satya Nadella, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, and Alphabet Inc chief executive Sundar Pichai. In fact, Alphabet-owned entities have several Indians or Indian-origin persons occupying leadership positions such as Prabhakar Raghavan, senior vice president at Google, and Peeyush Ranjan, GM, VP at Google Pay.

Mohan joined Google in 2008 and served as the chief product officer at YouTube. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories He has also been actively involved with YouTube Shorts and Music. “It’s been amazing to work with you (Susan) over the years.

You’ve built YouTube into an extraordinary home for creators and viewers. I’m excited to continue this awesome and important mission. Looking forward to what lies ahead,” the 49-year-old said on Twitter.

Thank you, @SusanWojcicki. It’s been amazing to work with you over the years. You’ve built YouTube into an extraord… https://t.

co/M1fEBQiNRj — Neal Mohan (@nealmohan) 1676573682000 Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and IT, was among the first to congratulate Mohan on his new role. “Congratulations @nealmohan on your leadership responsibility at @YouTube! Best wishes,” he said in a Twitter post on Friday. Congratulations @nealmohan on your leadership responsibility at @YouTube ! Best wishes 🙏🏻 — Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) 1676583876000 Several top executives were also quick to congratulate Mohan on his achievement.

Ajit Balakrishnan, founder, chairman and chief executive of Rediff. com, said it all boiled down to ‘good Indian middle-class values’. “We saw it with Indra Nooyi,” he said.

“These boys and girls have classical Indian middle-class values where they are honest, never demand excess money and don’t cheat. They work hard, run these companies and will not make money on the side. ” IBM chief executive Arvind Krishna, FedEx chief Raj Subramaniam and the likes of Google’s Pichai and Twitter’s former CEO Parag Agarwal were all products of IITs in the country.

Indra Nooyi, too, was from the premier IIM Calcutta. Critical time Mohan’s elevation comes at a critical juncture in the video-streaming platform’s history as it faces stiff competition from ByteDance-owned TikTok and Facebook-owned Instagram in the short-duration video segment. “I do see significant regulatory challenges for YouTube, especially with policy becoming increasingly adversarial,” technology and policy analyst Prasanto K.

Roy told ET. “Takedown orders and complying with regulation in different jurisdictions could be one of the biggest challenges as YouTube has the highest number of takedown requests not just from government and law enforcement agencies but also from a copyright standpoint,” Roy added. He, however, said competition may not be one of the big challenges for YouTube, especially since TikTok has faced trouble in the United States.

Mohan has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University. Mohan was responsible for YouTube products and user experience on all platforms and devices globally.

These included YouTube’s core mobile applications, YouTube. com, emerging technologies like VR, vertical experiences such as YouTube Kids, Music and Gaming, and its two subscription services, YouTube Red and YouTube TV. Products for media partners, content creators and musicians were also part of his portfolio.

Previously, Mohan was senior vice president of display and video ads at Google. In 2011, TechCrunch reported that Google had paid over $100 million to prevent Mohan from joining microblogging platform Twitter. He also serves on the Boards of DNA testing firm 23andMe and the New America Foundation’s California Advisory Council and is a member of the management board of the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Before joining Google, Mohan was senior vice president of strategy and product development at DoubleClick where he built the company’s strategic plan, led the product management team, and rapidly grew the business. He played a critical role in the sale of DoubleClick to Google and subsequently led the integration. He has also held various technology and business leadership positions at DoubleClick and NetGravity where he helped pioneer the digital marketing industry.

Mohan has also served in strategy and consulting roles at Microsoft and Accenture. Don’t miss out on ET Prime stories! Get your daily dose of business updates on WhatsApp. click here! Saturday, 18 Feb, 2023 Experience Your Economic Times Newspaper, The Digital Way! Read Complete Print Edition » Front Page Pure Politics Companies Brands & Companies More Governance Reimagined Since ’14: PM Addressing a power-packed gathering at ET GBS, PM Modi says his govt took a new approach to tackling country’s challenges, worked to realise unfulfilled ‘garibi hatao’ promise of previous govts, and showed the world what it means to be ‘anti-fragile’ during the pandemic.

SC to Set Up Panel on Investor Protection Regime on its Own The Supreme Court has rejected the government’s submission of a list of experts in a sealed cover for a panel to examine the country’s investor protection regime. New YouTube Chief Latest Indian-origin CEO on the Block “Minutes into his new life, he had to use a big chunk of the $20 he had on him to buy a bus ticket and get himself to campus. But he did it.

Because when you want something that bad, nothing — not even a 12-hour bus ride in January — is going to stop you. ” Read More News on neal mohan youtube ceo mohan youtube indian origin ceos Indian Super League Stay on top of technology and startup news that matters. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest and must-read tech news, delivered straight to your inbox.

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