Archive · 3 Sep 2026
Sundar Pichai Reflects on IIT Kharagpur’s 75-Year Legacy
IIT Kharagpur is celebrating 75 years.
Sundar Pichai, who leads Google and Alphabet, sent the institute a video message.
He remembered meeting his wife Anjali there and learning to program.
He also remembered using some of the campus’s earliest computers and carrying floppy disks.
Pichai said the university helped guide his career.
He believes AI will soon help many kinds of workers do their jobs better.
These workers could include farmers, healthcare workers, officials, developers and entrepreneurs.
He said students and universities will be important in making technology useful to people around the world.
Sundar Pichai recalled meeting his wife Anjali and learning programming at IIT Kharagpur.
He credited the institute with shaping his career and eventual path to Google.
Pichai said AI could move from laboratories into everyday work over the next five years.
He identified healthcare workers, officials, farmers, developers and entrepreneurs as potential AI users.
IIT Kharagpur said Pichai’s message highlighted education, innovation and technology’s global impact.
- Who
- Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, and IIT Kharagpur.
- What
- Pichai shared memories of studying at the institute and discussed AI’s future role in society.
- When
- As IIT Kharagpur celebrated its 75th anniversary; no specific date was provided.
- Where
- IIT Kharagpur; Pichai also referred to meeting student ambassadors at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi.
- Why
- To mark the institute’s anniversary and discuss how education, students and AI can support wider social and technological progress.
- Occasion
- IIT Kharagpur’s 75th anniversary
- Speaker
- Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet
- Personal memories
- Pichai said he met his wife Anjali and learned to program on campus.
- Career influence
- Pichai said IIT Kharagpur helped put him on a path to Google.
- AI outlook
- He expects AI to move beyond laboratories and early adopters into everyday occupations over the next five years.
- Potential users
- Healthcare workers, government officials, farmers, developers and entrepreneurs
- Student involvement
- Pichai recalled meeting Gemini student ambassadors from across India at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi.
