Google's parent company Alphabet has announced that executive chairman Eric Schmidt will be stepping down in January.
Schmidt, who has been with the tech giant since 2001, will become a technical advisor to the company and remain on the board.
"Larry, Sergey, Sundar and I all believe that the time is right in Alphabet's evolution for this transition. The Alphabet structure is working well, and Google and the Other Bets [such as Waymo and Project Loon Wi-Fi enabled weather balloon] are thriving," said Schmidt.
"In recent years, I've been spending a lot of my time on science and technology issues, and philanthropy, and I plan to expand that work."
The company is expecting to appoint a new non-executive chairman.
"Since 2001, Eric has provided us with business and engineering expertise and a clear vision about the future of technology," added Larry Page, CEO of Alphabet.
"Continuing his 17 years of service to the company, he'll now be helping us as a technical advisor on science and technology issues.
"I'm incredibly excited about the progress our companies are making, and about the strong leaders who are driving that innovation."
Google announced it was transforming into Alphabet in 2015, a holding company to house the collection for companies it has acquired and is running, although Google has remained the biggest in the group.
It's not a consumer brand and doesn't launch any products or services but the companies within the group develop them.
Schmidt admitted he had gotten off on the wrong foot with AI at the start of this year. At the RSA Conference in San Francisco he explained he didn't think it would scale to be general purpose enough to be useful. He admitted, however, he was proven to be completely wrong.
Image source: Shutterstock
-
Windows 10: Six essential steps IT teams should take over the next two monthsIndustry Insights With Windows 10 support ending soon, IT leaders must act now to mitigate risk
-
New chapter, same partners: Keeping the channel aligned with changeIndustry Insights How to maintain strong channel partnerships amid evolving strategies and market change
-
Intel makes high-level hires while factory workers are warned of layoffsNews The company is appointing four senior executives as part of efforts to refocus on engineering and customer relationships
-
UiPath names Simon Pettit as new AVP for UK and IrelandNews The seasoned leader will spearhead region-specific transformation projects as UiPath looks to drive operational growth and customer engagement
-
How to empower employees to accelerate emissions reductionin depth With ICT accounting for as much as 3% of global carbon emissions, the same as aviation, the industry needs to increase emissions reduction
-
Worldwide IT spending to grow 4.3% in 2023, with no significant AI impactNews Spending patterns have changed as companies take an inward focus
-
Report: Female tech workers disproportionately affected by industry layoffsNews Layoffs continue to strike companies throughout the tech industry, with data showing females in both the UK and US are bearing the brunt of them more so than males
-
How can small businesses cope with inflation?Tutorial With high inflation increasing the cost of doing business, how can small businesses weather the storm?
-
How to deal with inflation while undergoing digital transformationIn-depth How can organizations stave off inflation while attempting to grow by digitally transforming their businesses?
-
How businesses can use technology to fight inflation
TUTORIAL While technology can’t provide all the answers to fight rising inflation, it can help ease the pain on businesses in the long term
