Google Workspace GM Departs Amid Remote Work Boom

Last week, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian revealed that Javier Soltero, the executive in charge of Google Workspace will leave the Silicon Valley titan on July 15.

Aparna Pappu, the VP of Engineering for Workspace, will become Google Workspace’s General Manager after Soltero's departure.

The move was first announced in an email to staff viewed by Protocol and later confirmed by Soltero on Twitter.

“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work alongside so many talented people, on incredible products that are truly helpful to billions,” Soltero tweeted. “I am proud of what we've accomplished during this time & confident [sic] the Workspace team, its leaders, and our strategy.”

Soltero, a former Microsoft executive, first joined Google in 2019 to help G-Suite—Google’s cloud-based portfolio of productivity and collaboration tools—replicate Microsoft Office’s widespread success. Soltero had previously spent five years at Microsoft, including a stint as the Corporate VP of the Office Product Group, and had initially joined Microsoft after it acquired Acompli, an email startup he had founded.

Under Soltero’s leadership and during the pandemic, Google rebranded G-Suite to Google Workplace and boosted the product’s monthly active users by more than 50% to more than 3 billion users. Earlier this year, the company expanded its appeal by launching a free tier of the productivity suite, which includes access to Gmail, Drive, Docs, Meet and other tools.

Soltero departs as the remote work trend has gained steam, making the flexibility of cloud-based offerings like Google Workplace even more appealing for businesses. Later this month, it will be on Pappu to continue to grow the platform as it continues to nibble away at Microsoft’s massive lead in the productivity software market. In 2020, Gartner found that Google Workplace held a 10% market share, while Microsoft commanded 89% of the market, but the firm noted that Google is gaining approximately 1% to 2% of the market per year.

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