Google’s Global Business Organization (B): AI-First Leadership and Innovation

In spring 2026, Google’s Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler led the Global Business Organization (GBO), the commercial engine behind more than 70 percent of Alphabet’s revenue, through what he viewed as the industry’s third great inflection point after the internet and mobile, namely the rise of generative AI. Competitors were moving quickly, and a market narrative held that Google, the pioneer of the research behind modern AI, had been slow to commercialize its own breakthroughs. Schindler’s mandate was to grow the core revenue engine enough to fund Google’s 170 billion dollar-plus capital expenditure in 2026 while transforming customers, partners, and GBO itself into AI-first entities. The case traces GBO’s reengineering for speed and intensity, captured in the shift from ‘going to the gym’ to a ‘Game On’ ethos… The case sets up the question Schindler continued to face: whether GBO could keep delivering exponential growth and prove that Google, rather than its challengers, would drive the AI era. spring 2026, Google’s Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler led the Global Business Organization (GBO), the commercial engine behind more than 70 percent of Alphabet’s revenue, through what he viewed as the industry’s third great inflection point after the internet and mobile, namely the rise of generative AI. Competitors were moving quickly, and a market narrative held that Google, the pioneer of the research behind modern AI, had been slow to commercialize its own breakthroughs. Schindler’s mandate was to grow the core revenue engine enough to fund Google’s 170 billion dollar-plus capital expenditure in 2026 while transforming customers, partners, and GBO itself into AI-first entities. The case traces GBO’s reengineering for speed and intensity, captured in the shift from “going to the gym” to a “Game On” ethos, including a leaner structure, recalibrated incentives, and AI embedded in seller workflows and ad products such as Performance Max and AI Max. It examines how Schindler translated five leadership principles, from making customers successful to “putting a stake in the ground,” into an operating system for innovation at Google scale. Students weigh how an incumbent sustains start-up intensity across a 20,000-person global organization, how leaders balance disciplined urgency with endurance, and what it takes to lead a workforce through restructuring and cultural change while financing the next technological frontier. The case sets up the question Schindler continued to face: whether GBO could keep delivering exponential growth and prove that Google, rather than its challengers, would drive the AI era.

Also see: OB102: Google’s Global Business Organization: Managing Innovation at Scale