Google Cloud has appointed Francis deSouza, a seasoned tech executive with nearly four decades of experience, as its new Chief Operating Officer (COO). In a LinkedIn post announcing his new role, deSouza expressed excitement about the opportunities ahead, especially as businesses increasingly look to harness the potential of Generative AI to drive transformative outcomes.

DeSouza brings a wealth of experience, having previously served as president of product and services at cybersecurity company Symantec and as CEO of biotechnology firm Illumina. In 2023, he co-founded AI research firm Synth Labs, which received funding from Microsoft’s venture fund M12 and Eric Schmidt’s First Spark Ventures.

Throughout his career, deSouza has co-founded and led companies acquired by tech giants. His instant messaging security firm IMlogic was acquired by Symantec in 2006, while his messaging software company Flash Communications was bought by Microsoft in 1998.

In addition to his role as COO, deSouza is an active tech investor and advisor for several companies, including 4baseCare, Deel, and Moonwalk Biosciences. He has also served on the boards of The Walt Disney Company and Citrix.

As Google Cloud continues to focus on artificial intelligence and generative AI, deSouza highlighted the company’s impressive growth. For the third quarter of 2024, Google Cloud reported $11.4 billion in revenue, marking a 35% year-over-year increase, outpacing competitors such as Microsoft and AWS. With a 12% share of the global enterprise cloud infrastructure market, Google Cloud is solidifying its position in the competitive cloud services landscape, trailing only AWS and Microsoft.

DeSouza’s appointment comes at a pivotal moment for Google Cloud, as the company accelerates its AI-driven initiatives.