Susan Wojcicki: Remembering a YouTube Pioneer

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Susan Wojcicki will be remembered as an technology trailblazer (Image: CC BY-NC 2.0 Deed)
We remember the life and legacy of technology frontrunner and former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, who has passed away at the age of 56

It was recently announced that Susan Wojcicki passed away after a two-year battle with lung cancer.

As the former CEO of YouTube and one of the first employees of the tech giant, Susan Wojcicki was a trailblazer in the modern technology landscape as we recognise it today. Her commitment to developing the latest advances in technology development and accessibility for all led her to shape platforms like YouTube that we recognise today.

Image: CC BY 2.0 Deed

In fact, the early stages of Google happened in Susan Wojcicki’s garage, which she rented out to co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

“Her loss is devastating for all of us who know and love her, for the thousands of Googlers she led over the years, and for millions of people all over the world who looked up to her, benefited from her advocacy and leadership, and felt the impact of the incredible things she created at Google, YouTube, and beyond,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote on his Google blog.

Leading technology into the twentieth century

Once described as the “most important Googler you've never heard of”, Susan Wojcicki was present at the beginning of Google. 

After graduating from Harvard University with honours in 1990, she originally planned to pursue academia, but then developed an interest in technology. She went on to receive an MS in Economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

After this, she worked in marketing at Intel Corporation, before being persuaded to leave and join Google, becoming the tech giant’s 16th employee. 

Susan committed herself to working in the technology industry for more than 20 years. She was Google’s first marketing manager in 1999 and went on to lead the company’s online advertising business and original video service. 

At Google, Susan worked on the initial viral marketing programs, helped create the company's longtime logo with designer Ruth Kedar and spearheaded the first Google Doodles. She is also credited for co-developing and launching Google Image Search with engineer Huican Zhu.

Championing women in technology

Being one of few women to hold a senior position in technology at that time, Susan was empowered to encourage more women and girls to enter the industry. She told the BBC in 2013 that the future was going to be “increasingly digitally influenced” and that more women were needed in the industry. 

Image: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Deed

“Not only do women risk missing out on tomorrow's next great job opportunities, they also risk a more worrying decline in societal influence,” she wrote in 2016. “As tech remakes the world, women will miss the chance to affect the massive economic and social changes this fourth industrial revolution will bring.”

Her forward-thinking approach to technology led her to advocate for several causes, including countering gender discrimination at technology companies. She also actively campaigned to get young girls interested in computer science, prioritising computer programming and coding in schools.

In addition to inspiring young women, Susan was a prolific advocate for expanding paid family leave and supporting Syrian refugees.

“When we increased paid maternity leave to 18 from 12 weeks in 2007, the rate at which new moms left Google fell by 50 per cent,” she said.

Making YouTube mainstream

After seeing how successful YouTube was becoming as a platform, Google bought the site on Susan’s suggestion for US$1.65bn. Appointed CEO of YouTube in 2014, she helped the organisation go full-throttle in its expansion, as it explored multiple ways to generate revenue for the site and its creators. 

She was later described by Time as the “most powerful woman on the internet”.

Susan’s time at YouTube was the height of its success, as the site grew to reach two billion logged-in users a month. YouTube has paid more than US$70bn to creators, artists and media companies in the last three years alone, with the platform accounting for 15% of all internet traffic at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Susan committed herself to working in the technology industry for more than 20 years

Whilst the platform experienced controversies and content moderation debates during Susan’s tenure, she was instrumental in transforming the site into something for everyone. Significantly, the emphasised the importance of educational content on YouTube as a company priority, announcing YouTube Learning in 2018 which invests in grants to support education-based content creators.

Susan remained YouTube’s CEO until resigning in 2023.

Her impact cannot be understated. She was fully aware of the direction the internet was going to take in the twenty-first century and committed herself to making this a reality for Google and beyond.

She will be remembered for her powerful vision, her dedication to leadership and her humanity.

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