GOOGLE has appointed Zimbabwean James Manyika, pictured, as the company’s first senior vice president of technology and society.
Manyika is the brother of Build Alliance Zimbabwe (Baz) leader Noah Manyika.
Manyika’s position will focus on how technology affects society and will report directly to Sundar Pichai, Alphabet and Google chief executive officer.
Speaking about Manyika’s appointment, Pichai said: “I’m thrilled that James Manyika will be joining Google’s leadership team. He’s spent decades working at the intersection of technology and society and has advised a number of businesses, academic institutions and governments along the way.”
Manyika graduated from the University of Zimbabwe and Oxford University. He served in top institutions’ research boards including, Harvard, MIT, Oxford and Stanford.
Before taking over as senior vice president at Google, Manyika worked at McKinsey Global Institute as chairperson and director.
His work at McKinsey lines up with his new role at Google. The McKinsey Global Institute works to understand the global economy through the economic impact of tech, productivity, labour markets and other topics.
Manyika was previously appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as vice chair of the Global Development Council at the White House and by two United States Commerce Secretaries to the Digital Economy Board and to the National Innovation Board as part of the Competes Act. — Wires