After almost three years leading Workspace and later consumer messaging at Google, Javier Soltero stated this evening in an unexpected development that he is leaving the company.
Microsoft purchased the email app Acompli, of which Soltero was a cofounder and CEO. He oversaw Outlook, Office, and Cortana for four years.
He oversaw the redesign of G Suite into Google Workspace at Google in order to better position the company’s productivity tools for the eventual office-less workplace. The new icons for Gmail, Calendar, Meet, Chat, Voice, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Keep, Tasks, and Admin were quite visibly indicative of this.
During the pandemic-driven work from home (WFH) period, he managed significant changes to Google Meet as well as Google Chat’s extension to Spaces, formerly known as Rooms, as a rival to Slack and Microsoft Teams. Most recently, he completed the integration of Google Duo into Meet, and towards the end of the year, Chat will completely replace standard Hangouts.
In order to save end users from having to constantly switch tabs, Soltero is also in charge of integrated Gmail push, which makes Chat, Spaces, and Meet appear alongside email. Since mid-2020, he has also served as team leader for the Google Phone and Messages apps. He answered to Hiroshi Lockheimer, SVP of Android and Chrome, in that capacity.
On July 15, Soltero will leave Google. He describes the previous three years as an exhausting sprint.
It’s time for me to take a rest after such a grueling run while I consider what comes next.
Since I have an entrepreneurial spirit, I want to take the time to investigate potential new projects.
Aparna Pappu will take over for Soltero as general manager of Workspaces, according to an internal memo from Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud. She has been working on Google’s collaboration and communication products for the past four years.
Kurian also said that during the past three years, the number of Google Workspace’s monthly active users has increased by more than 50%.
Google’s 9TO5 Moving swiftly to provide significant updates (Workspace) to the Google suite of productivity and communication tools defined Javier Soltero’s tenure. It was undoubtedly a significant change from what had come before, with a clear vision for the future of Workspace and the numerous products that make up its portfolio. The business greatly benefited from such vitality and needed it.
Updating
FTC: We employ automatically earning affiliate connections. More.
Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:
