Let's take a look at what Thomas Kurian, Chief Executive Officer of Google Cloud, has said about AI's (Artificial Intelligence) impact on jobs, society, and the future of innovation in the second edition of What They Said on AI. This article highlights the latest quotes and insights from Google Cloud CEO, highlighting his evolving views on AI's impact on jobs, innovation, and the future of technology.
Also Read: What They Said: Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Others on AI
Whether AI is a bubble, a multi-bagger, or a technology that will drive the future of nations, only time will tell. For now, we have these insights from so-called leaders and veterans of the technology industry.
What They Said: Timeline
October 2025:
AI Is Helping, Not Replacing Workers
Google recently introduced a version of its Gemini chatbot designed for business use cases. The new product, Gemini Enterprise, connects with enterprise data and includes an agent builder, customer service tools, and more. In a recent interview with Big Technology dated October 9, 2025, Kurian said that artificial intelligence isn't replacing workers — it's helping them keep pace with growing demands and ambitions. His comments come amid an ongoing debate over automation and the future of the enterprise workplace worldwide. The interview has been covered by multiple media outlets with titles such as "AI Will Not Take Your Jobs," including The Times of India, Moneycontrol, and Business Today.
The GenAI Divide: State of AI in Business 2025, a report published by MIT's NANDA initiative, reveals that while generative AI holds promise for enterprises, most initiatives aimed at driving rapid revenue growth are falling short. "The 95 percent failure rate for enterprise AI solutions represents the clearest manifestation of the GenAI Divide," the report states.
In the interview, Kurian acknowledged that he has heard the recent conversations about how AI has not been working well for enterprises.
Defining an AI Agent
When asked how he defines an agent, Kurian reportedly said: "An agent for us is an autonomous system that understands the user, can perform multi-step interactions, can generate multiple potential answers, can use tools to critique those answers, and has a high degree of accuracy in performing these multiple steps."
Kurian emphasised that AI's primary role is to enhance human capabilities rather than replace them entirely. "I think there is definitely a middle ground. And I think partly it's because people are reacting to hype on one end and also not thinking rationally on the other end," Kurian said, dismissing predictions that AI will automate all work.
Evidence of AI Productivity Gains
He pointed to real-world evidence from Google's Customer Engagement Suite, a collection of AI-powered customer service tools launched last year. Despite initial concerns from clients asking whether they would no longer need any customer service agents, Kurian reportedly revealed that "almost none of our clients have let go anybody."
Kurian's optimism mirrors that of Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who recently told the Lex Fridman Podcast that AI has made Google's own engineers roughly 10 percent more productive, allowing them to focus on more creative and meaningful projects.
"The opportunity space of what we can do is expanding," Pichai said, noting that AI takes over repetitive coding or administrative tasks, enabling humans to focus on innovation.
His message comes amid an intensifying global debate over the future of work. From call centers to software development, employees worldwide are anxious about automation and the potential job losses this technology could bring.
When asked about the flow of money and circular investments in the AI industry, Kurian reportedly said: "If you don't create wealth, and you just pass wealth from one pocket to another sooner or later that you know how that ends. We're focused on providing customers real value. I think you've seen our growth, and because we have our own chips and our own models, we're not just redistributing other people's stuff, and so I think over time, you'll see it in our financial results."
Also Read: SoftBank CEO Predicts 2025 Will Be a Year of Unprecedented Upheavals Hinging on AI
Google Announces New gigawatt Scale AI Hub in Visakhapatnam
Announcing the investment at an event in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, Thomas Kurian said: "Today, though, we are incredibly proud, with the support of the government of India and the state of Andhra Pradesh. We are very pleased to announce a new gigawatt-scale AI hub in Visakhapatnam."
"It's the largest AI hub that we are going to be investing in anywhere in the world outside of the US. It represents a capital investment over the next five years of 15 billion dollars and will scale to multiple gigawatts.
"It is a part of a global network of AI centres in 12 different countries, but it is as I said, the largest one that we will be building anywhere in the world outside the US. In addition to that, we are also pleased that we will be making Visakhapatnam a global connectivity hub."
"We are bringing our subsea cable infrastructure and landing it in Visakhapatnam. We will be connecting that to our global subsea cable network, and with that, we see it not just becoming a landing station for a large number of cables, but also providing a digital backbone connecting different parts of India together.
"So we are not just bringing AI technology, but also a digital infrastructure through our subsable and network Connectivity hub," Kurian added.
About Thomas Kurian
Thomas Kurian joined Google in November 2018 as the CEO of Google Cloud, the division responsible for bringing Google's technology and solutions to enterprises, governments, and startups worldwide. Prior to Google, he spent 22 years at Oracle, where he most recently served as President of Product Development. Earlier, Thomas worked at McKinsey as a business analyst and engagement manager. He has also served as a member of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council, according to Google Cloud's leadership page.
This is a developing story, and more quotes and insights from Thomas Kurian will be added as they become available.
