Bengaluru techie runs into Sundar Pichai on the streets of San Francisco

A Bengaluru-based techie meets Sundar Pichai in the US (Image credit: @PuriSid/Twitter)

A Bengaluru-based techie’s post on running into Sundar Pichai in San Francisco is viral on social media. Sid Puri, head of growth for Retool in India, was walking down the street when he came across the Google CEO and managed to get a picture with him.

He shared the photograph on X and LinkedIn, where it has collected thousands of ‘likes’ and comments. The picture shows Sundar Pichai dressed casually in blue jeans, a jacket and black sunglasses. The CEO of Google does not appear to have any security around him – although Puri confirmed that he was walking with a security guard who took their photo.

“Go to SF they said, no one prepared me to just run into Sundar Pichai on the street,” Puri wrote while sharing the pic on the microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter). On LinkedIn, he revealed that the picture was taken last week – shortly after he landed in San Francisco.

go to SF they said, no one prepared me to just run into Sundar Pichai on the street. pic.twitter.com/BJitwCw0EE

— Sid Puri (@PuriSid) September 25, 2023

The post has been viewed 3.5 lakh times on X, where people were full of questions about the encounter.

Some wanted to know what phone Pichai was using.

no idea — Sid Puri (@PuriSid) September 25, 2023

While Puri said he had “no idea” about the phone being used by the Google CEO, Pichai has said in earlier interviews that he juggles between different smartphones – including Google’s Pixel range, iPhones and Samsung devices.

“Wow. He walks without any security??? I am a little happy because he is so simple down to earth, and a little scared for his security at the same time,” another wrote.

“He had a security guard who took the photo,” Puri responded.

he had a security guard who took the photo

— Sid Puri (@PuriSid) September 25, 2023

Sundar Pichai is the India-born CEO of Google and its parent company Alphabet. In 2022, he received a total compensation of about $226 million, making him one of the world’s highest-paid corporate leaders.