Leaked memo: A key Google Cloud president is leaving his role amid a reorganization that will see 'a small number' of positions eliminated

Google Cloud

Google Cloud President Tariq Shaukat

• Google Cloud Industry Products and Solutions president Tariq Shaukat will be leaving his role amid a reorganization that will see "a small number" of positions eliminated, according to a memo sent to employees last week. You can read the full memo below.
• Shaukat held a crucial role within Google Cloud, helping hone its appeal to larger customers in regulated industries like biotechnology or finance. While he's leaving Google Cloud, he's exploring opportunities within the larger Google structure itself, according to people familiar with his thinking.
• The reorganization was designed to streamline operations and bring the company closer to its customers, the memo says.
• Google Cloud will help those employees affected by the restructuring find new positions within the company, according to people familiar with the situation.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

An executive who's been with Google Cloud since 2016 will be leaving his role amid a reorganization that will see "a small number of employees" have their positions eliminated, according to an internal memo sent on Thursday. You can read the full memo below.

In the memo, Google Cloud Sales President Robert Enslin wrote that Tariq Shaukat, president of Industry Products and Solutions (IP&S), will be leaving the cloud division entirely. He is, however, exploring new opportunities within Google itself, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Shaukat's departure has not been previously reported.

Shaukat held a critical position within Google Cloud: As the company ramps up its efforts to appeal to larger customers and catch up with larger rivals Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, CEO Thomas Kurian has prioritized making sure that its cloud platform is suitable for specific industries like finance and biotechnology.

Shaukat most recently led a major deal with IT services giant Accenture, which chose Google Cloud technology for a key life sciences platform called INTIENT.

News of the reorganization was first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Friday. The company has said that it will try to find new roles for affected employees. The move is intended to streamline operations in international markets, the partner ecosystem, and customer engagement, according to people close to the company.

Enslin wrote that these changes are a way for Google Cloud's sales team to get closer to its customers.

"We recently communicated organizational changes to a handful of teams that will improve how we market, partner, and engage with customers in every industry around the globe," a Google spokesperson said in a statement.

"We made the difficult, but necessary decision to notify a small number of employees that their roles will be eliminated. We're working with our internal mobility teams across the company to help those affected by this change, and hope to find them new roles within the company. We are grateful for everything they have accomplished and their commitment to Google Cloud."

Reorganization at Google Cloud

In the wake of Shaukat's departure, his IP&S team will see some changes. Its go-to-market sales teams will report directly to Enslin, at least temporarily, while its product engineering teams will be rehoused with their peers elsewhere in Google Cloud.

The ultimate idea, per the memo, is to find a replacement for Shaukat, to take over the go-to-market side on a more permanent basis. This new leader "will set the vision, mission and strategy for our go-to-market approach for the priority industries we're targeting," Enslin wrote in the memo.

Under Enslin and Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, Google Cloud has been working on tripling its sales force, even as it makes broad changes to its sales and partnership programs to better keep pace with its larger rivals. That's included changing the way that salespeople are compensated, as well as bringing partners closer into the fold by inviting them to attend its annual sales kickoff conference.

Google Cloud has also been hiring a new leadership team, although sources previously told Business Insider that the hiring process is viewed by some employees as "biased" toward veterans of Oracle, where Kurian held a long career before coming over in January 2019.

When Google reported earnings earlier in February, Google Cloud reported that it generated $8.9 billion in revenue in 2019. That shows considerable growth in the unit under Kurian's watch, but it's still markedly smaller than the cloud revenue posted by Amazon Web Services and Microsoft.

You can read Enslin's full memo below:

A key principle behind how we've organized our sales team is getting closer to our customers so we can help them solve their toughest business challenges and seize their biggest opportunities. As you know, we recently introduced the role of general manager across all of our major product solutions, and last year we shifted more control to our geographical sales regions. Now we're applying this principle to industries, bringing together teams that can best provide our customers with the solutions they need to transform their businesses.

To keep up our momentum, we're bringing critical capabilities from the Cloud Industry Products & Solutions (IP&S) team into the Cloud Sales organization. I'm excited to welcome solution team members of IP&S teams, who'll be joining our organization on Feb. 14. In the interim, these leaders and teams will report to me but will later transition to align under the new Industry Solutions leader. The new Industry Solutions leader will set the vision, mission and strategy for our go-to-market approach for the priority industries we're targeting, and will be a member of my leadership team.

In addition, earlier today Tariq Shaukat announced he will be leaving Cloud. I've gotten to know Tariq well over the past months, and I'm grateful for everything he and his organization have accomplished, including the strong relationships they've built with customers and partners.

Please join me in welcoming our new team members to our sales organization and in wishing Tariq well!

Do you work at Google Cloud? Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at rmchan@businessinsider.com, Signal at 646.376.6106, Telegram at @rosaliechan, or Twitter DM at @rosaliechan17. (PR pitches by email only, please.) Other types of secure messaging available upon request. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

NOW WATCH: How groundhogs became the animal that predicted the weather