Updated
Updated · Fortune · Jun 28
Arvind Jain Credits Google’s 'Think Big' Culture for Building $7.2 Billion Glean
Updated
Updated · Fortune · Jun 28

Arvind Jain Credits Google’s 'Think Big' Culture for Building $7.2 Billion Glean

1 articles · Updated · Fortune · Jun 28

Summary

  • Arvind Jain said the defining lesson he took from Google leaders Sundar Pichai, Larry Page and Sergey Brin was to pair hard work with the confidence to pursue ideas others dismiss as unrealistic.
  • Pichai’s push for Google Chrome crystallized that lesson for Jain, who initially thought the browser was a bad idea before it became the world’s most-used browser by 2012.
  • Jain said that willingness to ignore conventional limits helped explain why some highly accomplished Googlers stood out while others did not, despite similar technical talent and credentials.
  • He later applied the same approach to co-found Rubrik, which went public in 2024 at about $5.6 billion, and Glean, the AI workplace search startup now valued at $7.2 billion.
  • Jain said he still looks for unconventional thinking inside his own companies, adding that he now learns most from younger Gen Z employees with fresher perspectives.

Insights

Can Glean's 'unrivaled context' defend against Google, or will the owners of the core AI models ultimately win the enterprise?
If 'disregarding normalcy' built today's tech giants, can this ethos survive in an era defined by AI efficiency and mass layoffs?
In today's chaotic AI race, is audacious vision or unwavering calmness the more critical leadership trait for a tech CEO?