TIME100 AI 2026 · Leaders

Elizabeth Reid

VP and Head of Search, Google

Google's head of Search was the first female engineer in its New York office, and started on the team that built Google Local, the foundation for Maps.

Born
Not published
Now
VP and Head of Search, Google
Studied
Dartmouth College

Interesting facts

  • First

    Joined Google in 2003 as the first female engineer in its New York office, when the whole company had fewer than 2,000 employees.

    sources.news
  • Before AI

    Spent 17 years on maps, starting on the Google Local team whose work became the foundation of local information in Google Maps.

    jasonhowell.substack.com
  • Turning point

    Took over all of Google Search in 2024, just as panic about what ChatGPT would do to Google was cresting.

    sources.news
  • Detour

    Weeks after AI Overviews rolled out in 2024, she publicly acknowledged odd and wrong answers, while noting many viral screenshots were fake.

    blog.google
  • Numbers

    Under her, AI Overviews reach more than 2.5 billion people a month, and AI Mode passed 1 billion monthly users within a year of launch.

    time.com
  • In their words

    Calls what AI is doing to Google Search "expansionary," not zero-sum, because people are asking more questions than ever.

    sources.news

Career

  • GoogleVP and Head of Search, Google Search2003 to now

Education

  • Bachelor's, Computer science, Dartmouth College

Also on the list, from the same companies

All sources

Researched with Autumn: describe the people you want to understand and get a table with a source on every cell.

Researched with Autumn from public sources · Updated 2026-10-30

Photos: Elizabeth Reid blog.google

Researched by Autumn, the search for people and companies. The list is TIME's; Autumn is not affiliated with TIME.