Slack
- Robert Frati, VP and general manager of Google's Workspace software, has departed.
- Frati joined Google last April as the company was ramping up AI features for Workspace.
- One exec said Google was struggling to make a splash with its new Workspace AI features.
Robert Frati, a leader on Google's Workspace, has departed the company, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Google spokesperson Ted Ladd confirmed that Frati had left to "explore other opportunities."
Frati joined Google last April as VP and general manager of Workspace go-to-market, running the team responsible for selling Google's suite of productivity tools to customers.
He was a notable hire at a critical moment for Google, which had started furiously building new generative AI features into its Workspace suite of apps, which includes Gmail, Docs and Meet.
He joined Google from Slack, where he was the company's chief sales and success officer. He's previously held VP roles at the company, and before that was at Salesforce for a decade (Salesforce acquired Slack in 2021).
Spokesperson Ted Ladd said Phil Davis, VP of Global Specialist Sales for Google Cloud, will serve as interim leader while the company searches for Frati's replacement.
The exact reason for Frati's departure from Google is unclear, but Google's Workspace unit has seen some major shifts over the last two years. Javier Soltero, who previously ran Workspace, left in July 2022. Greg Tomb, VP of sales, left around the same time. Last July, Workspace VP Kelly Waldher also departed.
After Soltero left, Aparna Pappu stepped up to run the unit and has spearheaded work integrating Google's new Gemini features (briefly known as Duet AI) into Workspace.
Whether sprinkling new AI features over Workspace will lead to more sales remains to be seen. One company exec lamented that Google was struggling to land "new logos" – big business customers it can boast about – despite the promise of new AI features.
"Both Copilot and Gemini are half-baked products," that exec said. Spokesperson Ladd said Google was seeing "great momentum" with Workspace and highlighted pharma company Roche and Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs as two recent new customers.
Microsoft has also failed to impress some customers with its new AI tools. One customer of the company's Office 365 Copilot said recently that the software wasn't providing enough value, comparing the AI tools to "middle-school presentations."
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