Before Google, there was a long wait for running water: Sundar Pichai’s journey from scarcity in India to Silicon Valley success

Google’s CEO and top boss, Sundar Pichai is a quiet man, a technologist who speaks softly but whose voice carries a lot of weight. Appearing in a recent podcast with YouTube podcaster Lex Fridman, the Google and Alphabet CEO traced his journey from the cramped, modest quarters in Chennai, and finally to the upper echelons of Silicon Valley.

Pichai started off by describing the state of India in the 1980s, where there was no internet, and one telephone connection served an entire neighbourhood. “Access to knowledge was there, so that’s the wealth we had. Every aspect of technology I had to wait for a while. I’ve obviously spoken before about how long it took for us to get a phone, about five years, but it’s not the only thing,” Pichai mused. Talking more about the telephone, Pichai said that just to get a connection, there was a whopping five-year waiting period. “There was a five-year waiting list, and we got a rotary telephone. But it dramatically changed our lives. People would come to our house to make calls to their loved ones,” said Pichai.

But beyond technology, Pichai’s childhood, although pleasant, was also replete with hardships.

“We had no running water. It was a massive drought, so they would get water in these trucks, maybe eight buckets per household. So me and my brother, sometimes my mom, we would wait in line, get that and bring it back home. Many years later, we had running water and we had a water heater, and you could get hot water to take a shower. For me, everything was discreet like that. So, I’ve always had this thing, first-hand feeling of how technology can dramatically change your life, and the opportunity it brings. That was a subliminal takeaway for me throughout growing up. I actually observed it and felt it,” Pichai observed.

In fact, throughout the conversation, one can make out that Pichai is not really romanticizing hardship. Instead, he is using his own personal story of struggle and connecting it with technology. As he himself says - “Access to technology can significantly reduce time and effort in daily tasks” – it is technology at the end of the day that truly can revolutionize lives, just like the telephone did.

Lex Fridman also pressed Pichai on leadership, and the latter’s response is measured: “Humility and kindness can be key to effective leadership.” Fridman asks Pichai that when we speak of someone who has reached the top, usually the character trait of the person is obnoxious. Pichai answered in the affirmative and answered that leadership really does not mean being authoritarian.

“Over time I figured out the best way to get the most out of people. You find mission-oriented people who are in the shared journey, who have this inner drive to excellence to do the best. You motivate people and you can achieve a lot that way. It often tends to work out that way,” he said.

Pichai is also acutely aware of how the story of technology has shifted, from the narrative of empowerment to one of anxiety. Yet Pichai remains a cautious optimist. Artificial Intelligence, he insists, “may surpass even electricity” in its transformative potential, but he’s not blind to its risks. The problem is not the machines; it’s us. “Concerns regarding the long-term risks associated with Artificial Superintelligence highlight the need for humanity to align and address these threats collectively,” he observed.

In fact, one can see that there’s something almost pastoral in the way Pichai describes the evolution of creativity. AI, he suggests, is not just a replacement but a companion to human imagination. “The barrier to creation diminishes,” as he puts it. With a kind of quiet wonder, he sketches the future of “vibe coding”—a process where thoughts can directly translate into tangible creations. “The unique emotional connection in human creativity will continue to hold value,” he assures.

Yet the most arresting parts of the podcast are not about AI or product innovation, but about how little—at his core—Sundar Pichai has changed. When he speaks about the importance of curiosity, it is less about data and more about wonder. “The role of curiosity in asking questions is emphasized,” Pichai said, sounding as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. Most importantly, Pichai peaks not as a titan of industry but as the boy who once marvelled at the possibility of making a long-distance phone call!

The episode closes on a note of broad, almost philosophical ambition. “The Neolithic package,” Pichai noted, has “transformed human civilization through agriculture, social structures, and technology.” Therefore, he explains that his interest lies not only in building tools, but in understanding how those tools shape societies, minds, and histories. From agriculture to AI, Pichai sees a linear line: technology as a multiplier of human potential.