• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, July 25, 2023

The biggest topic of conversation across advertising has largely been around artificial intelligence (AI), which has been the foundation of advertising for years at Google.

AI supports smart bidding as well as platforms like Performance Max, a platform Google announced in 2021.

The same technology that Google uses to capture intent can increase targeting accuracy. Now there is generative AI (GAI).

Vidyha Srinivasan, vice president and general manager of Google Ads, leads this strategy across Google Search, Shopping and Maps.

She says the conversation around GAI at Cannes Lions International of Creativity shifted from “is this a new thing” to “what can I do about it” and “how do we prepare for this new world?"

Srinivasan, who has years of experience at IBM and Amazon Web Services, has one of these professions at Google that can change the world through the influence and support of daily activities of millions of people worldwide —  not just advertisers, but anyone who uses a search engine, maps and navigation systems, and shopping applications.

Search & Performance Marketing Daily caught up with Srinivasan to talk about GAI, search, maps, and shopping at Google. She shared some work experiences and some personal experience and thoughts. What follows is snippets from the conversation.

Search & Performance Marketing Daily:  What prepared you to lead the product and engineering teams at Google in advertising?

Vidyha Srinivasan:  I think of it as a great privilege and responsibility. I really, really love what I do. I sort of view it as being grounded in user experiences. Stepping back, Google as a company is very particular on how products are developed across the board. There are many principles put in place to help users, including AI principles.

This is part of the Google culture. Users come to us in moments for information that’s sometimes very personal and critical. Everyone in the company takes that seriously. 

S&PMD:  What do you think is the most important skill you have to lead the group?

Srinivasan:  I think of myself as an engineering technologist with a high empathy for users and advertisers. That’s what offsets the desire to do technology first, and go back to the basics of making the life of others easier. It’s the combination of both to drive the culture across my team.

S&PMD:  Did you always want to go into technology?

Srinivasan:  I wanted to be a doctor. There were no doctors in my family. All engineers. I was probably about eight or nine years old when my grandmother said ‘when I’m old I want to be helped by my granddaughter, so we need one doctor in the family.’

It was a pretty nice profession where I could help people, and solve problems. I grew up in India. The culture with doctors is different there. They are thought of as a healing God, at least back then -- a lot more respect. People took their word.

Then I took biology and computer science much later, and there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to work in technology. I left school with a Masters in computer science. It’s been an exciting journey. I love working in tech.

S&PMD:  What is the best piece of advice anyone gave you and whom did it come from?

Srinivasan:  A couple of different things have been influential in shaping me. I have four children. As a woman in tech, there is a lot of responsibility at home and work. When I was younger, I worried about managing my home life and a career.

At the time, someone told me that I need to determine what’s important in my life and then work hard and keep pushing. Don’t make tradeoffs, because at the end of the day you’ll regret it.

Later in life, the thing that shaped me the most is not to worry about what people think about you. I know it sounds trite and clichéd, but I grew up in an India culture where many things have specific rules and compliance.

Feedback is critical, but it doesn’t shape how I think about myself. It shapes what I do. You need to feel comfortable in your skin.

S&PMD:  What is your vision for search, maps and shopping at Google?

Srinivasan:  I would come back to how AI drives the experience of these products. When we look at the power of the technology, we see that in Performance Max and other products -- a higher performance. The possibilities are endless.

We listen to what marketers tell us and how they want to push the value. It’s about performance, productivity, and moving faster to get things done.

AI is a big trend. We’ve had others in the past too, like the internet and mobile. We expect AI to follow the same pattern.