Robby Stein is VP of Product at Google, where he oversees the core products of Google Search—including the new AI Overviews, AI Mode, search ranking, Google Lens, and more. Previously, he led consumer products at Instagram, where he and his teams built Stories, Reels, Close Friends, and other key features now used by billions.

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What you’ll learn:

Why Google’s AI products are suddenly taking off after years of perceived stagnation

How AI is expanding Search rather than replacing it, contrary to what many predicted

The three core product principles that have helped Robby build multiple billion-user products

Inside Instagram’s decision to build its own version of Snapchat Stories

His mantra of “relentless improvement”

How Google developed AI Mode from concept to launch in just one year

Why most teams give up too early on potentially transformative products

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Brought to you by:

Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security: https://vanta.com/lenny

Jira Product Discovery—Confidence to build the right thing: https://atlassian.com/lenny/?utm_source=lennypodcast&utm_medium=paid-audio&utm_campaign=fy24q1-jpd-imc

Orkes—The enterprise platform for reliable applications and agentic workflows: https://www.orkes.io/

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Transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-google-built-ai-mode-in-under-a-year

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My biggest takeaways (for paid newsletter subscribers): ⁠https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/i/175041217/my-biggest-takeaways-from-this-conversation⁠

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Where to find Robby Stein:

• X: https://x.com/rmstein

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbystein/

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Referenced:

• Google Gemini: https://gemini.google.com/app

• Nano Banana: https://aistudio.google.com/models/gemini-2-5-flash-image

• Chat GPT: https://chatgpt.com/

• Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai/

• Google Lens: https://lens.google/

• AI Google search: https://www.google.com/ai

• Why ChatGPT will be the next big growth channel (and how to capitalize on it) | Brian Balfour (Reforge): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/why-chatgpt-will-be-the-next-big-growth-channel-brian-balfour

• Alex Rampell on X: https://x.com/arampell

• A 4-step framework for building delightful products | Nesrine Changuel (Spotify, Google, Skype): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/a-4-step-framework-for-building-delightful-products

• Look broader, look closer, think younger: Tony Fadell speaks at TED2015: https://blog.ted.com/look-broader-look-closer-think-younger-tony-fadell-speaks-at-ted2015/