A new day has come at Google.
Effective today, Google co-founder Larry Page has succeeded Eric Schmidt as CEO of the Internet search giant.
Although the transition won’t result in the upheavals and stark changes that such occurrences might typically yield, Schmidt will remain with the company as the executive chairman and Page, who has previously serves as Google CEO, is largely expected to leave the boat un-rocked.
Still, as Forbes columnist Haydn Shaughnessy suspects, the installment of Page will certainly not result in “business as usual” across the board.
Page is a “believer in systemic innovation,” Shaughnessy writes. “That is, the need to undertake the research and transformation tasks that shift the world into a different gear.”
“Few CEOs stick their neck out like that, so his new role is potentially exciting for innovation watchers,” he adds.
Nonetheless, on the surface, it is widely believed that both Page and Schmidt will neatly fall into pre-determined roles that play to their individual strengths.
Schmidt, for example, is expected to deal with the company’s external affairs and partnerships with other big businesses and governmental bodies and institutions. Page, on the other hand, will contend with internal affairs, product development, and tech strategy – his key strengths and passions.
On the whole, Schmidt, Page and Sergey Brin remain the power players at Google – a company for which the overriding goal is apparent: continue to expand in a way that softens Google’s image and leads to new growth opportunities both at home and abroad.
