When Google named Rick Osterloh as senior VP of hardware in 2016, it represented a second tour of duty for the veteran tech executive, who had been president of Motorola Mobility during the brief period when the smartphone maker was a Google property. In his new role, he has been responsible for centralizing the company’s formerly far-flung consumer electronics operations, launching Pixel phones, Google Home speakers, Daydream VR headsets, the Pixelbook tablet and Clips camera, and other gadgets--all of which aim to leverage Google’s formidable resources in machine learning, operating systems, and other software areas.

In 2018, Osterloh was also given oversight of Nest, the smart-home company that was formerly an independent arm of Alphabet. That may be the clearest sign yet that Google sees his hardware team as essential to the company’s future rather than an entertaining side project.