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Sridhar Ramaswamy became Snowflake’s CEO in February 2024 after a career spanning Google engineering and advertising leadership, the AI-search startup Neeva, and Snowflake’s own AI organization. Here are five points that explain the succession and the path behind it, with company claims distinguished from established career dates.
1. He succeeded Frank Slootman in February 2024
Snowflake announced Ramaswamy’s appointment on February 28, 2024, saying it was effective immediately. The company’s Form 8-K records the effective date as February 27. Frank Slootman retired as CEO and remained chairman of the board. Snowflake’s leadership roster, checked October 8, 2026, lists Ramaswamy as CEO and Slootman as chairman. Snowflake’s appointment announcement · Form 8-K · Snowflake leadership and board
2. His Google career combined engineering with business leadership
Before joining Google, Ramaswamy held research positions at Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies, and Bell Communications Research (Bellcore). SEC-filed career dates show he held Google engineering roles, including SVP of Engineering, from April 2003 to March 2013. He then served as SVP of Ads & Commerce from March 2013 to October 2018. Snowflake says that business remit encompassed search, display and video advertising, analytics, shopping, payments, and travel. The SEC filing provides the role dates; Snowflake’s announcement describes the areas he led.
How to read the Google advertising-growth figure
Snowflake’s 2024 announcement said Ramaswamy was integral to the growth of AdWords and Google’s advertising business “from $1.5 billion to over $100 billion” during his 15 years at Google. That is Snowflake’s account of growth during his tenure, not an independent measurement of his personal contribution or proof that he alone caused it. Snowflake’s current executive biography describes his Google tenure as more than 15 years. 2024 announcement · Current executive biography
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3. Neeva brought him from search entrepreneurship to Snowflake
Ramaswamy co-founded Neeva in 2019 and led it as CEO through May 2023. Snowflake acquired Neeva in 2023 and said Ramaswamy joined the company in May 2023. Snowflake described Neeva as a private AI-powered search engine. The transition linked his experience building a search business with Snowflake’s work on AI services. The SEC filing records his Neeva CEO tenure; Snowflake’s announcement gives the acquisition and joining context.
4. He led Snowflake’s AI work before becoming CEO
After joining Snowflake, Ramaswamy became SVP of AI. Snowflake’s 2026 proxy statement gives the period as June 2023 to February 2024. The company says he led its AI strategy and the launch of Snowflake Cortex, its managed AI service. His promotion therefore followed an internal AI leadership role, rather than marking his first involvement with Snowflake’s AI efforts. Snowflake’s 2026 proxy statement · Snowflake’s 2024 announcement
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5. His technical training preceded both the business and AI roles
Ramaswamy earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from IIT Madras and master’s and doctoral degrees in computer science from Brown University, according to Snowflake. That academic background sits alongside his later experience leading large engineering and advertising organizations, founding Neeva, and overseeing AI work at Snowflake. Snowflake executive biography
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What Snowflake said about the transition
When announcing the appointment, Slootman said: “There is no better person than Sridhar to lead Snowflake into this next phase of growth and deliver on the opportunity ahead in AI and machine learning.” Ramaswamy said he was honored to lead the company and pointed to an opportunity to help customers use AI to create business value. These are the executives’ views and stated ambitions at the time, not independent assessments of results. Snowflake’s February 2024 announcement
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