HomeAllNew Leadership at Google India: Preeti Lobana Steps In (DEC 2024)

New Leadership at Google India: Preeti Lobana Steps In (DEC 2024)

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Google India
Google India

Preeti Lobana named Google India Chief amid expansion of AI efforts

Google has appointed Preeti Lobana as its new operations head for India. She is coming into this position at a crucial juncture when a vital slot that opened with Sanjay Gupta moving as President of Google AsiaPacific in July, remained unfilled so far.

Lobana, who came in as the Vice President for Advertising Technology at Google, is at that critical juncture. Company is fast expanding its AI capabilities in one of the very competitive markets for digital service. India is one of the most significant growth markets for Google. The technology giant has heavily invested in connecting more Indians to the internet and supporting the digital transformation of small and medium businesses. In 2020, Google pledged an additional $10 billion towards these efforts, signaling its longterm commitment to the region.

However, this growth comes with challenges. Google has faced regulatory scrutiny in India, the world’s secondlargest internet and mobile market. The company incurred fines in 2022 by the Competition Commission of India for its anticompetitive practices regarding Android over $162 million. Later, in the same year, it incurred another $113 million as a charge for its dominance abuse policy regarding the Play Store. This year marked the opening of an antitrust investigation over its practice on inapp billing; it claims regulators have been “unfair” and “discriminatory” toward Google.

Interim Google India chief Roma Datta Chobey is returning as head of the division, overseeing the digital business of Internet group in that market as this transition cycle approaches a close.

Lobana’s career history is full of long experience in finance before joining the ranks of Google officials. Lobana has experience working in leadership positions at NatWest, American Express, and Standard Chartered, among others, that she will bring to the new role. Lobana is an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad. She marks a significant shift from her predecessor Sanjay Gupta, who was groomed in the entertainment and media space, having worked at Star India and Disney. Under Lobana, Google will now focus on its India strategy as well: the regulatory hurdles it can expect and the ways it may innovate and expand into its market.

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