[13][14] His mother, Lakshmi, was a stenographer, and his father, Regunatha Pichai, was an electrical engineer at GEC, the British conglomerate.

[36][37] In August 2017, Pichai drew publicity for firing a Google employee who wrote a ten-page manifesto criticizing the company's pro-diversity policies.

[38][39][40][41][42] In December 2017, Pichai was a speaker at the World Internet Conference in China, where he stated that "a lot of work Google does is to help Chinese companies.

"[43][44] On December 11, 2018, Sundar Pichai was questioned by the United States House Judiciary Committee on a range of Google-related issues such as possible political bias on Google's platforms, the company's alleged plans for a "censored search app" in China, and its privacy practices.

He also stated that Google users can opt out of having their data collected and that "there are no current plans for a censored search engine" in China.

[46] In December 2019, Pichai became the CEO of Alphabet Inc.[47][48] His compensation from the company topped $200 million in 2022,[49] which many employees criticized in light of large scale layoffs that Google undertook in 2023.

[50] In April 2024, after 28 Google employees were fired for protesting against Project Nimbus, Pichai stated that the office is not a place "to fight over disruptive issues or debate politics", and warned against using the company "as a personal platform".

[52] On 13 February 2025, under Pichai's leadership, Google responded to pressure from Donald Trump and Elon Musk to cease DEI initiatives by removing many annual American cultural events from Google Calendar, including Black History Month, Pride Month, and Holocaust Remembrance Day.

[57] In 2022, Pichai received the Padma Bhushan in the category of Trade and Industry[58] from the Government of India, the country's third-highest civilian award.