Thomas Kurian

2022-06-06T22:45:22Z

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{{short description|Indian businessman}}
{{Infobox person/Wikidata|fetchwikidata=ALL}}
'''Thomas Kurian''' is an Indian business executive and [[Chief executive officer|Chief Executive Officer]] of [[Google Cloud Platform|Google Cloud]] since 2019.

==Early life==
Thomas Kurian was born to P.C. Kurian and his wife Molly in 1966 in [[Pampady]] village of [[Kottayam]] district in [[Kerala]], India. Kurian senior was a chemical engineer and the general manager of Graphite India.<ref name="thehindu.com">{{cite news | url=https://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/new-oracle-chiefs-kerala-roots/article6775912.ece?homepage=true | title= New Oracle chief’s Kerala roots | date=11 January 2015 | newspaper=The Hindu | accessdate=30 September 2019 }}</ref> Thomas Kurian was one among four brothers including his identical twin [[George Kurian]], who was in 2015<ref>{{cite web | title= Leadership Team at NetApp | url=https://www.netapp.com/company/leadership-team/}}</ref> made the CEO of [[NetApp]].

As their father's career involved moving around India, the twins boarded at the Jesuit-run St Joseph's Boys High School in [[Bengaluru]]. Both were accepted to the prestigious [[IIT Madras]]. There they both took [[SAT]] tests and sent the results to various colleges, including [[Princeton University]], which offered both of them partial scholarship places.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/07/07/george_kurian_reviving_netapps_zing/|title=Three years in: Can Kurian heal sickly NetApp's woes?|first=Chris Mellor 7 Jul 2016|last=at 09:38|website=www.theregister.co.uk}}</ref> At the age of 17, along with George Kurian,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data-economy.com/new-world-pioneers-george-kurian-lays-out-future-vision-of-humankind-built-on-social-consciousness/|title=New World Pioneers. George Kurian lays out future vision of humankind built on social consciousness|date=July 18, 2019}}</ref> he moved to the United States. Kurian graduated from Princeton with a bachelors degree in electrical engineering, from which he graduated [[summa cum laude]].

==McKinsey and Stanford==
After Princeton, Kurian started his career with [[McKinsey & Company]] as a consultant serving clients in the software, telecommunications, and financial services industries for 6 years in London and Brussels.<ref name="oracle" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/alumni/contact/alumni-association/about-alumni/thomas-kurian|title=Thomas Kurian|website=Stanford Graduate School of Business}}</ref> He also pursued an [[MBA]] from [[Stanford Graduate School of Business]]. He was an Arjay Miller Scholar.{{clarify|date=May 2020}}{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

At the time, George was working for Oracle. In 1996, the brothers switched companies when George was hired by McKinsey, and Thomas, by Oracle <ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/why-google-clouds-new-ceo-thomas-kurian-quit-oracle-after-22-years/articleshow/66859490.cms|title=Why Google Cloud's new CEO Thomas Kurian quit Oracle after 22 years|first=Neha|last=Shende|date=November 29, 2018|via=The Economic Times}}</ref>

==Oracle==

Kurian joined Oracle in 1996, initially holding various product management and development positions. His first executive role was as Vice President of Oracle's e-Business division. In this role, he drove a number of company-wide initiatives focused on transforming Oracle into an e-Business.

Next Kurian took responsibility for the Oracle Fusion Middleware product family. Under his leadership, that business became the company's fastest-growing business and the industry’s leading middleware product suite.<ref name="oracle" /><ref>{{cite press release|url=http://news.thomasnet.com/companystory/Oracle-Fusion-Middleware-Wins-Two-InfoWorld-Technology-of-the-Year-Awards-811621|title=Oracle Fusion Middleware Wins Two InfoWorld Technology of the Year Awards|publisher=News.thomasnet.com |date=2008-01-15 |accessdate=2012-03-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gartner.com/technology/media-products/reprints/oracle/article160/article160.html|title=Magic Quadrant for Application Infrastructure for Systematic Application Integration Projects|publisher=Gartner.com |date=2010-10-18 |accessdate=2012-03-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gartner.com/technology/media-products/reprints/oracle/article163/article163.html|title=Magic Quadrant for Application Infrastructure for Systematic SOA-Style Application Projects|publisher=Gartner.com |date=2010-10-21 |accessdate=2012-03-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gartner.com/technology/media-products/reprints/oracle/article162/article162.html|title=Magic Quadrant for Shared SOA Interoperability Infrastructure Projects |publisher=Gartner.com|date=2010-10-21 |accessdate=2012-03-14}}</ref>

Later, Kurian served as a Senior Vice President of Oracle's Server Technologies Division responsible for the development and delivery of [[Oracle Application Server]]s. He played a key role in bringing Oracle 9i application server to market.<ref name="bare_url" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://java.sun.com/javaone/sf/2007/sessions/general/bios.jsp |title=2007 JavaOne Conference -General Session Speakers |publisher=Java.sun.com |date=2007-05-08 |accessdate=2012-03-14}}</ref> Application server software became Oracle's fastest-growing business primarily because of his efforts.<ref name="bare_url_a">{{cite web|url=http://www.zdnet.com/news/can-app-servers-revive-oracle/297776|title=Can app servers revive Oracle? |work=CNET News |publisher=News.cnet.com |date=2002-05-22|accessdate=2014-08-08}}</ref> Kurian served as a member of Oracle’s Executive Committee for 13 years. He led 35,000-people software development team in 32 countries with an R&D budget of $4 billion. He also helped in the transformation of Oracle’s products with the introduction of leading suite of Cloud Services, led 60 software acquisitions and Oracle’s 45 Cloud data centres.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/who-is-thomas-kurian-former-oracle-executive-set-to-take-charge-at-google-cloud/1384839/|title=Indian American Thomas Kurian is the new CEO of Google Cloud: Here’s what you need to know about him|date=November 17, 2018}}</ref>

As the President of Product Development, he oversaw Oracle's 3,000-odd product development efforts. He was responsible for development and delivery of Oracle’s software product portfolio including [[Oracle Database]], [[Oracle Fusion Middleware]], and [[Enterprise resource planning|ERP]], [[Customer relationship management|CRM]], and [[supply chain management]] applications.<ref name="oracle">{{cite web|url=http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/Executives/016380.htm |title=Thomas Kurian - Executive Biography |publisher=Oracle.com |date=2010-09-07 |accessdate=2012-03-14}}</ref><ref name="bare_url">{{cite web|url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=1345961&ticker=ORCL:US |title=Thomas Kurian: Executive Profile & Biography - Businessweek |publisher=Investing.businessweek.com |date= |accessdate=2012-03-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://people.forbes.com/profile/kurian-thomas/145799 |archive-url=http://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20120210015041/http://people.forbes.com/profile/kurian%2Dthomas/145799 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 10, 2012 |title=Kurian Thomas profile |publisher=People.forbes.com |date=2009-08-21 |accessdate=2012-03-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=E. Abraham Mathew and Srinivas R |url=http://www.ciol.com/News/Interviews/For-Oracle,-every-revolution-is-an-evolution/150007/0/ |title=For Oracle every revolution is an evolution |work=CIOL Interviews |publisher=Ciol.com |date=2011-05-16 |accessdate=2012-03-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/168477/oracles_software_development_reins_in_new_hands.html |title=Oracle's Software Development Reins in New Hands |work=PCWorld Business Center |publisher=Pcworld.com |date=2009-07-15 |accessdate=2012-03-14}}</ref>

Thomas Kurian was the 18th highest-paid man in the US in 2010, according to [[CNN]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/fortune/1109/gallery.highest_paid_men.fortune/18.html |title=25 highest-paid men - Thomas Kurian (18) |work=FORTUNE |publisher=Money.cnn.com |date=2011-09-29 |accessdate=2012-03-14}}</ref> He was also the 5th highest-paid tech executive in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|last=Horn |first=Leslie |url=https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2396194,00.asp |title=Oracle Execs, Apple's Tim Cook Among Highest-Paid in Tech |publisher=PCMag.com |date=2011-11-10 |accessdate=2012-03-14}}</ref>

On September 6, 2018, Kurian announced he was taking extended time off from the company.<ref>{{cite news
| author = Jay Greene
| title = Top Oracle Software Executive to Take Extended Leave
| quote =
| newspaper = The Wall Street Journal
| date = 2018-09-06
| pages =
| url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/top-oracle-software-executive-to-take-extended-leave-1536266283
| accessdate = 2018-09-08
}}</ref> Kurian and [[Larry Ellison]] reportedly had a falling out over the direction of its cloud business.<ref name="auto"/>

On September 28, 2018 he resigned as president of product development at Oracle.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/28/oracle-says-kurian-has-resigned-three-weeks-after-taking-time-off.html|title=Oracle says Kurian has resigned as president three weeks after he left to take time off|first=Ari|last=Levy|date=September 28, 2018|website=CNBC}}</ref>

== Google ==
Kurian joined [[Google]]'s Cloud organization in November 2018. During his first year at Google, Kurian focused on selling G Suite applications to enterprise clients. He has reorganized the sales team to align with Sales practices of enterprise clients.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://social.techcrunch.com/2020/02/19/thomas-kurian-on-his-first-year-as-google-cloud-ceo/|title=Thomas Kurian on his first year as Google Cloud CEO}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurian, Thomas}}
[[Category:American business executives]]
[[Category:Oracle employees]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Kerala]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:McKinsey & Company people]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]

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Thomas Kurian