Google Workspace, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian announced Wednesday in an email to staff viewed by Protocol. Soltero will leave his role effective July 15.
Soltero confirmed his plans on Twitter, saying, “I am proud of what we’ve accomplished during this time & confident [sic] the Workspace team, its leaders, and our strategy.”
Soltero originally joined Google’s G-Suite team in 2019 after leaving Microsoft, where he ran product strategy for Microsoft Office. Soltero became a Microsoft employee when the company acquired his email startup, Acompli, in 2014. From there he rose through the ranks from general manager of Outlook Mobile to corporate vice president of the Office Product Group.
Google then hired Soltero to try and run the Microsoft playbook with what used to be known as G-Suite, as the company pushed further into the office productivity space. In his role as vice president and general manager, Soltero reported directly to Kurian and managed the company’s full suite of productivity and collaboration tools, which includes Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Slides and Meet.
In October of 2020, just a year after Soltero joined Google, the company rebranded its suite as Google Workspace. Then in February of this year, Google launched a free business version of Workspace, meant to capture small businesses and teams within larger companies.Both moves were a part of Google Cloud’s overall strategy to increase adoption of its productivity suite among consumers and enterprises. Under Soltero’s leadership that has happened: Monthly active users of Google Workspace have grown more than 50% over the last three years, according to Kurian’s email.
Aparna Pappu, who is currently the vice president leading engineering for Workspace, will assume the role of general manager leading Google Workspace after Soltero’s departure, Kurian said in the email.
“After such an intense sprint, it’s time for me to take a break before I figure out what is next,” Soltero said on Twitter. “I am an entrepreneur at heart & want to take time to explore new things to build.”