Google CEO Sundar Pichai addressing a program to announce the “Digital Unlocked” skill program, in New Delhi, Jan. 4. (Manvender Vashist/PTI)

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has been appointed to the board of directors of Alphabet, the search giant’s parent company has said, writes Lalit K. Jha.

“Sundar has been doing a great job as Google’s CEO, driving strong growth, partnerships, and tremendous product innovation. I really enjoy working with him and I am excited that he is joining the Alphabet board,” Larry Page, CEO of California-based multinational conglomerate Alphabet, said in a statement, July 24.

A long-time Google employee, 45-year-old Pichai, an IIT Kharagpur alumnus born in Chennai, has been leading the company for the past two years.

Pichai, whose appointment became effective on July 19, joins four other Alphabet officers – Page, Sergey Brin, Eric Schmidt and Diane Greene on the 13-member Board.

As Google’s Chief Executive Officer, he is responsible for Google’s product development and technology strategy, as well as the company’s day-to-day-operations.

Pichai joined Google in 2004 and helped lead the development of key consumer products which are now used by over a billion people.

In 2014, he took over product, engineering, and research efforts for all of Google’s products and platforms.

After years of working closely with Google’s co-founders, Page and Brin, he became Google’s CEO in August 2015.

In October 2015, Alphabet became the parent holding company of Google.

Under Pichai, Google has boosted sales from its core advertising and YouTube business, while also investing in machine learning, hardware and cloud computing.