Despite Google and corporate parent Alphabet being at the center of the artificial intelligence revolution, CEO Sundar Pichai avoided any mention of AI and how it’s reshaping today’s workforce in his recent commencement address at Stanford University.

In fact, when speaking to the 2026 class, the tech CEO whose $1.7 billion net worth earned him a spot on Forbes’ 2026 World’s Billionaires List, said the most timeless advice he’s received is “technology agnostic,” adding that “it’s about you, the life you want to build for yourself, and the choices that help you pursue that life.”

But while Pichai managed to avoid the boos that many of his commencement speaker peers have received for touting AI, his speech unfolded against a backdrop of students walking out in protest of Google’s ties to the Israeli government and its controversial contracts with the U.S. government.

Rather than answering those criticisms, or offering predictions about what AI might or might not do, Pichai talked to the graduates about the three principles that guided him from being a financially strapped Stanford graduate student from India to leading one of the world’s most valuable and influential tech companies today.

Read more from my story here to learn why Pichai says your mindset, your willingness to take on difficult challenges, and your ability........

© Forbes