Google Workspace is undergoing a leadership shuffle.
Aparna Pappu, the vice president and general manager of the unit, is stepping down, and Jerry Dischler, the president of cloud applications, is taking charge of the group. Pappu has led the unit since July 2022, when she replaced the Microsoft veteran Javier Soltero.
"I'm ready for the next opportunity at Google and stepping down from my current role as GM of Workspace," Pappu told staff last week in a memo viewed by Business Insider.
Pappu said she would remain in an advisory position for Workspace before transitioning to a new role within Google.
She said her senior reports, including Anurag Agarwal, Google Workspace's vice president of engineering, and Yulie Kwon Kim, the vice president of product, would now report to Dischler. Pappu had previously reported to Dischler.
Dischler moved to a new role as Google's president of cloud applications earlier this year after 15 years working on Google's ads. Dischler, who reports to Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, focuses on integrating AI into customers' businesses.
A Google spokesperson confirmed the change, saying in a statement, "After more than six years working on Workspace, Aparna Pappu is ready for her next challenge at Google and will be moving to a new role."
In addition, Google has appointed Precisely's former chief revenue officer Pat McCarthy as its new head of Workspace sales, said a person with knowledge of the matter and an internal org chart reviewed by Business Insider. The role was previously held by Bob Frati, who departed earlier this year, as BI first reported.
The shake-up comes at a critical time for Google's Workspace business as it tries to get customers to pay for new generative AI features. It competes with Microsoft's Office 365 Suite, which offers its own Copilot AI features and has so far received mixed reviews.
Google is racing to convince customers they should use Gemini tools instead. It held an internal competition for employees to pitch ideas for AI "prompts" that customers may find useful, according to internal documents seen by BI.
Pappu, who previously led these efforts, acknowledged the work around AI in her memo last week.
"That's really the best feeling of all — when your team has 'got this,''" she wrote. "And we've especially got this AI thing — we know what we need to do and we're razor focused on execution.
"With all that in mind, I knew it was time for something new for me."
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