Podcast Summary: Lead With AI

Episode: Google Director Reveals How Two Billion People Now Search Using Conversational AI
Host: Dr. Tamara Nall
Guest: Sufi Smalzadeh, Director of Product Management for AI Frontiers, Google Search
Date: December 2, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Dr. Tamara Nall sits down with Sufi Smalzadeh, Director of Product Management for AI Frontiers at Google Search. The discussion dives into how generative, conversational AI is fundamentally reshaping how over two billion people use Google to seek information—and what the future holds for the world’s most trusted search tool. The conversation blends behind-the-scenes insights, practical examples, and visionary predictions, all delivered in an accessible, jargon-light manner.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Sufi’s Journey and Google’s AI Frontiers

• Sufi began by sharing her decade-long journey at Google, with a focus on AI-powered products for search.
• "We are far from satisfying our mission in search to satisfy human curiosity, which is what keeps me here every day... With this AI paradigm shift, it was very clear from the early days that this was going to open up completely new ways to satisfy the kinds of questions people never asked us before." (C, 02:06)
• The team’s mission is to push beyond basic information retrieval, enabling Google Search to answer more complex and nuanced queries.

The Evolution: From AI Overviews to AI Mode

• AI Overviews: Sufi’s team built this as the first major generative AI product for Search. Now reaching over two billion monthly active users. (C, 03:50)
• AI Mode: Expands on Overviews, introducing truly conversational, back-and-forth interactions. Users ask complex, nuanced questions and engage directly with the search engine. Satisfaction metrics have dramatically improved.
• "It's really changing the way people interact with search...and we're just at the beginning of this journey." (C, 04:44)

“Holy Smokes” Moments: Real-World Impact

• Sufi recounts testing the product with college students navigating post-grad career options:
  "It really validated what we were hoping—we make it easy to think through some of the hardest questions." (C, 06:30)
• Everyday user feedback—from school parents to friends—praises the new AI features, which help with everything from vacation planning to understanding new topics quickly.
  "That box on the top of Search—AI mode—it has changed the way that I understand things, that I plan my family vacation." (C, 06:44)

How Conversational AI Search Actually Works

• Introducing the “query fan out” technique:
  • The AI deconstructs complex queries into subtopics, performs multiple simultaneous searches, then integrates the findings for a nuanced, comprehensive answer.
  • Example: For a family travel query, the AI factors in noise levels, budget, and child-friendliness—all in parallel.
  • "It's equal to thinking the way a person thinks logically." (C, 08:30)
  • "These generative models...break [questions] into subtopics...doing the research...to compose a thoughtful response for you." (C, 08:09)

Use Cases and Innovations

• Image Generation: Sufi uses AI Mode to generate custom cake images for her sons' birthdays, bringing inspiration seamlessly from digital to real life. (C, 11:17)
• Agentic Booking: Users can now have the AI book restaurant reservations on their behalf—foreshadowing a wave of action-oriented features.
• “That's just a handful of things that we have and will continue to bring to the forefront.” (C, 12:29)

Ethics and Trust at the Core

• "Trust in giving accurate information is at the core of what matters to search...all of our AI products are anchored in our core search quality systems—25 years of fine-tuning to give you the most accurate, factual information that we can." (C, 13:25)
• “AI Overviews and AI Mode responses are all anchored and grounded in the web, both to ensure that we're giving you the best, most accurate information, but also to enable people to dig deeper and dive in for themselves.” (C, 14:08)

The Big Future: Agentic, Multimodal, Personalization

• Sufi identifies three frontiers:
  1. Agentic: Models taking action on your behalf—beyond just information provision.
  2. Multimodal: Search and answers through images, video, audio; not just text.
  3. Personalization: Search understands user preferences and context over time, delivering more tailored, relevant results swiftly.
• "These three are really going to change the way people think about seeking information beyond...the innovation you're already seeing." (C, 15:11)

New Features: SearchLive & Visual AI Mode

• SearchLive: Users point their camera at an object (e.g., new TV), ask questions, and receive step-by-step visual guidance from AI.
  "You can now open up SearchLive and say, 'I got this television, I've got all these chords. Where do they go?' And you can have a conversation with AI mode where it will help guide you." (C, 18:54)
• Visual AI Mode: Pushes boundaries for conversational visual search, especially for shopping and inspiration.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "That feeling of, 'oh my gosh, we can do that,' and then dreaming of the next iteration is happening so quickly and continuously—and we are pushing innovation as fast as we can." (C, 11:31)
• "I always like to ask that question and I love it when people say they started with [ethics] from the beginning. It wasn’t an afterthought." (A, 14:36)
• "The most overrated tech trend: the use of the word 'AI' all the time, everywhere, for everything. In many instances, I think it is overused." (C, 21:22)
• Biggest under-hyped breakthrough? "I think that multimodal. The multimodal capabilities—models. We are just starting to really think about how to apply it and bring it to life in everyday life." (C, 21:40)
• "So many people [will] become entrepreneurs...these capabilities, the technology, the products are going to let people express their creativity in completely new ways… we're going to see a whole range of entrepreneurs that we historically wouldn't have seen." (C, 22:49)
• "It does level the playing field...You can have that small child that's in some village somewhere that can be just as competitive as somebody with, you know, more resources." (A, 23:11)

Important Timestamps

• Getting to Know Sufi & Google AI Frontiers: 01:49–04:07
• The Product Evolution—AI Overviews & AI Mode: 03:49–04:44
• User Transformation Stories: 06:04–07:39
• How Conversational AI Works (Query Fan Out): 08:09–09:32
• Hands-On Innovations—Image Generation, Agentic Booking: 11:17–12:36
• Ethics at the Core of Search: 13:25–14:42
• Future of Search (Agentic, Multimodal, Personalization): 15:07–17:23
• SearchLive & Visual AI Mode Explained: 18:54–19:37
• Rapid Fire (Overrated/Underrated Trends; Book; Prediction): 21:22–23:11

Actionable Advice for Listeners

• Try AI Mode and explore conversational search.
• Use SearchLive—turn on your camera and ask questions about real-world scenarios.
• Experiment with Visual AI Mode for inspiration, shopping, and more interactive searching.
• Stay up-to-date on the latest: visit google.com/ai for the newest Google AI features.

Final Thoughts & Legacy

Sufi hopes that future generations who look back on her work will always be asking, “What’s the next paradigm shift? How does that enable me to meet my mission in entirely new ways?” (C, 20:25)
The episode closes on a note of excitement and inclusivity: AI is making advanced technology accessible for all, empowering a wave of new builders and innovators.