Google CEO Sundar Pichai has revealed a hands-on approach to evaluating the success of major company product launches. Recently, in a podcast, Pichai said that he dedicates significant time on launch day to personally monitor public reception and user experience on social media platforms, like Elon Musk’s X (Twitter). The CEO explained that while internal teams rely on advanced dashboards and metrics, he looks forward to the unfiltered feedback to understand if a new product, such as the Gemini AI models, is making sense for the consumers.“I’m one of one of those people. I need to feel it firsthand, right?” Pichai said, adding, “So I get reports, but I’m out there trying to understand how people are using it, what they are posting. And I think that is important.”

Sundar Pichai says he monitors X for real-world feedback

Pichai specifically mentioned using the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on launch days to gauge public sentiment and usage.“I’m pretty active on launch day trying to understand what’s working. I’m looking for feedback. I’m on X trying to understand [and] see if people, average users, how they’re experiencing the product,” Pichai said on the company podcast.This method allows Pichai to assess feedback instantly and because the “first day” of a launch is crucial for getting an authentic sense of what is working well and what is not.“I probably ping people back saying, ‘this is a valid point, we should address it’. So, in some sense, I’m looking at that trying to assess it,” he added

Google combines data and feedback on AI products

Pichai also acknowledged that his personal monitoring combined with Google’s robust internal data collection gives an idea of what is working and what is not. He noted that teams use tools like Gemini itself to collect and collate information, and he regularly reviews complex dashboards tracking metrics like Queries Per Second (QPS) and usage capacity.“But I walk over to some people who all have these big screens with multiple dashboards looking at QPS and you know understanding how the usage is worried about capacity but all that gives you a real sense of what people are saying but that’s how I do it,” Pichai said.“It’s a combination of monitoring stuff online, talking to people, walking around, and sitting down with people, particularly the first day. It really helps me get a sense of what’s working, what’s not working well,” he concluded.Pichai has become more vocal on social media. He has had several conversations with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and even replied to several congratulatory messages after the launch of Google Gemini 3.0 AI model. For example, he recently posted about the launch of the Nano Banana Pro model, suggesting that he has been looking at the feedback on social media.“You went 🍌🍌[Bananas] for Nano Banana. Now, meet Nano Banana Pro. It’s SOTA for image generation + editing with more advanced world knowledge, text rendering, precision + controls. Built on Gemini 3, it’s really good at complex infographics – much like how engineers see the world:),” he wrote.