• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, February 3, 2016

John Giannandrea, an engineering VP who heads Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning efforts, will step in as head of Google search as Amit Singhal leaves to take on philanthropy.

Singhal joined Google about 15 years ago and has led the technical development of the Internet search engine ever since. He led the team that made the Web search engine smarter, faster, smarter, as well as the ability to deep-link into mobile applications.

"Now, with pride, gratitude, and joy in my heart, I need to define my next fifteen years," Singhal wrote in a Google+ post. ”I am eager to see what kind of impact I can make philanthropically, and of course, to spend more time with my family -- especially with my wife who I miss spending time with given our incredibly busy lives, and our son who will go to college soon, leaving an empty nest behind."

Feb. 16 will be Singhal's last day at Google.

The transition appears to merge engineering with search. Giannandrea's experience includes time as CTO at Tellme Networks, which specialized in telephone-based applications and was acquired by Microsoft in March 2007. He also spent five years at Netscape Communications as principal engineer and chief technologist, according to his LinkedIn profile.