Google sees pockets growing at a fast clip: Country head Preeti Lobana
Macroeconomic uncertainties and a consumption slowdown may have had some impact on business, but
Google
continues to be "very bullish" on India and there are pockets which are growing at a fast clip,
Google India
country manager
Preeti Lobana
said Tuesday.
Sectors that are growing exponentially include gaming, edtech, ecommerce and
quick commerce
, Lobana said in her first media interview after taking over as the tech giant's top India executive. She took over the role in January from Sanjay Gupta, who was promoted to Google's president for the Asia-Pacific region.
"We have a bird's eye view on where the tension in the macroeconomic trends is leading to, so the consumption slowdown, you'll see that a little bit. But you equally see some of the other verticals that are not linked to consumption doing really well and growing users, getting the spend," she said.
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Lobana, who joined Google more than seven years ago after having previously worked at the NatWest Group, American Express, Standard Chartered Bank and ANZ Grindlays Bank, said she is "very bullish" on India, though "some of the challenges like supply chain and manufacturing that people are seeing may offer bumps".
On the macro data factors that influence GDP, she said India may have faced challenges, but compared with some other countries, "we have done well".
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Google is betting big on the "One Google" strategy and artificial intelligence to grow its India business. These include a full stack of solutions, from ads to cloud to payments, for engagements with large and small customers alike, Lobana said. The company continues to invest heavily in India, including in products that are India-first, Lobana said. AI and cloud can help drive intelligence and efficiency for businesses here, she said.
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"The cutting-edge technology that we have, if Indian companies embrace and integrate that now, they have a two- three-year window for that productivity leap," Lobana said. "If we can do that, it'll be significant progress for India and for many of our big industry players because that's how they transform their supply chains, that's how they transform and get more efficiencies and effectiveness out of their customer service."
On the run-ins with regulators over Android and Google Play's billing system, Lobana, without commenting on the specifics of the case, said the company is working with the government and regulators and is committed to growing the ecosystem.
"(With)
Play Store
, the kind of opportunity it's given to developers in finding the right users...how we keep that ecosystem safe and secure in this era of cyber fraud and all of that, that means that we have to have a business model," she said, adding that the model is evolving and Google is mindful of the country's context.
Indian developers
on the Play Store are raking in Rs 4,000 crore annually, with 84% of this revenue coming from outside the country, she said.
The executive dismissed the threat from AI chatbots to Google's proprietary product, Search, saying it is not a "zero-sum game" - every time there has been a tech shift such as mobile (which threatened its ad business) or Tiktok, Instagram (which threatened YouTube), Google has adapted and come out stronger.
The company is evolving its products to align with changing consumer preferences towards longer queries in the AI era - for instance, enabling more conversational and intuitive queries in Search, Lobana said. The AI mode is launching soon in India, she added.
Google is also looking at how to partner with the government's IndiaAI Mission and is exploring how to bring its expertise to contribute to empowering the ecosystem and working with startups here, she said.
The global leadership is betting on the Indian talent as well, said Lobana, adding that the India team has doubled since pre-Covid times, with leadership roles also growing.
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