Growing up, my mom worked as a librarian at the local school. I can remember spending hours surrounded by books, learning about everything from different kinds of cats to how to make the best chocolate chip cookies. My brother and I were endlessly eager to learn, and our parents encouraged that curiosity as something worth nurturing. Access to information wasn’t just useful, it was essential.
Years later, when I moved into a leadership position at Google, I found myself surrounded by people who shared that same belief: that human curiosity is one of the most powerful forces for progress, and that making information universally accessible and useful is a mission worth pursuing. Curiosity, it turns out, is boundless. Every year we see over 5 trillion searches on Google — and every day, 15% of those searches are brand new: they’ve literally never been asked before. I find that incredible; that after more than 25 years of Search, people are still finding so many new questions to ask!
Today, we’re at the beginning of the most profound and exciting transformation of our lifetimes — the era of AI. It’s not just a technological shift; it’s a new way to ask and answer questions, discover ideas and solve problems. At Google, we’ve been building the infrastructure and innovations to support this shift for a decade and now we’re seeing the impact at scale: from faster scientific discovery and real-time crisis response to new AI-powered tools that are changing how we stream, search, scroll and shop.
For businesses, this is no longer a future conversation. AI is helping brands to keep up with humanity’s boundless curiosity and navigate a landscape that is predictably unpredictable. Whether it’s engaging with more precision; supporting the creation and production of content in a matter of minutes or hours; or making measurement and optimization possible in real time, companies that embrace this moment aren’t just adapting — they’re pulling ahead.