kurian.txt

[not mine, originally written by Cameron Purdy, but I can't seem to find a working link anymore.]

CP FTW!

https://www.quora.com/Have-you-worked-for-Thomas-Kurian-at-Oracle-He-is-the-new-CEO-of-Google-Cloud-What-is-he-like/answer/Cameron-Purdy

Have you worked for Thomas Kurian at Oracle? He is the new CEO of Google Cloud. What is he like?

Cameron Purdy

Cameron Purdy, former Svp at Oracle (2007-2015)

Answered 4d ago · Upvoted by Geethika Chilamanthula, Senior application engineer at Oracle (2013-present) and Nitin Kesarwani, worked at Oracle · Author has 2.1k answers and 5.5m answer views

Yes, Thomas (aka “TK”) was my boss at Oracle. He was the President of all product development, and his boss was Larry, the Chairman of the Board.

I saw that TK got a new job running Google Cloud at Google, which is an outstanding opportunity. That should be interesting; among other things, he was responsible for Oracle Cloud at Oracle. In that role, I think the results speak for themselves.

I can’t tell you what he is like; I can only tell you what he was like at Oracle when I worked for him:

Detail-oriented: No detail — and I mean absolutely no detail — was too small for him to bring up, focus a large organization on for an extended period of time, and ultimately make a decision on himself, which he was flexible enough to change without warning every 2–3 weeks thereafter. I think the results speak for themselves.

All-knowing: There is no topic, in technology or business, on which he was not the foremost expert, and thus it is important for him to be involved in every decision at every stage from product inception, through product architecture, through product development, through product launch, and for the remainder of the product life-cycle. I think the results speak for themselves.

Dynamic: Some people are content to go “along the cool sequested vale of life [keeping] the noiseless tenor of their way,” sticking with a plan and doing the boring work of building and delivering something of great value to customers. Thomas was far more dynamic than that, working in 2–3 week cycles, within which cycles any product that was conceived, built, delivered, and ramped to $1+ billion in revenue within a single cycle was allowed to continue to exist. Any project or product that could not be conceived, built, delivered, and sold to the tune of 10 digits of revenue — all within a few weeks — was cancelled or dramatically altered every 2–3 weeks thereafter. I think the results speak for themselves.

Audible: Some people speak quietly, and use words that do not convey exactly what they are feeling. TK is very good at speaking at an amply audible level and using very efficient words (often no more than 4 letters long). This has been a very good recruiting tool for Google — what foresight! I think the results speak for themselves.

I’m a results-oriented person. I think the results speak for themselves.