Up now, Ruth Porat of Alphabet, on leading a tech giant in these times #dealbook

On Alphabet's decision to move early to remote working in the early stages of the pandemic, Porat -- a former Morgan Stanley executive -- says, "I was drawing on some experiences from the 08 crisis … One of the key elements is that you need a strong command structure" #dealbook

How hectic was the early stage of the pandemic for Google? Porat says, "Search queries were 4x higher than the Super Bowl" #dealbook

It's hard to plan out the future, and not clear yet that the provisional June 2021 date will change, Porat says. "It's very much about this hybrid environment," in part because "we believe that innovation benefits from people coming together" #dealbook

That said, there's also a boost in some productivity by not coming to the office. "We will grow into people coming back into the office," Porat says #dealbook

Porat says of the v data-focused Alphabet/Google, there was a lot of studying pulse surveys. "In the early parts of Covid, there was a productivity dip," she says, leading the company to focus on executive coahing. "We think we're back to pre-Covid levels" now #dealbook

Asked about Alphabet listening to employees, Porat draws on her experience at Morgan Stanley during the crisis. "If banking had had voice of employees early on in the financial crisis … I think the financial crisis could have been very different," she says #dealbook

She adds, I think people would have spoken out about the practices that contributed to the crisis. That shows the difference in top-down orgs versus the flatter structure of Silicon Valley, Porat says #dealbook

I will say this, as Porat is interrupted by her Google smart home speaker: She's representing for the team! #dealbook

Porat says that companies have to choose which issues they speak out on -- otherwise, "you dilute your voice and relevance." Important issues for Google include climate change: "As responsible citizens of this planet," she says, "it would be inappropriate not to." #dealbook

Google, she notes, is a huge energy consumer via its data centers. So by 2030, she wants to ensure that the company's data centers and campuses run on renewable energy #dealbook

As Google faces more antitrust pressure, Porat says, "We think people come to Google search because they want to, not because they have to." Remembers Google's origins when she was a tech banker in 1998, when there were other search engines. "It was a better product" #dealbook

What would it take to challenge Google? Porat notes that she's on Zoom, when 3 years ago, Zoom wasn't a verb the way it is now. "Innovation is everywhere. If you come up with a great product and you’re focused on users, you’re going to break through" #dealbook

Asked about the difference between working on Wall Street and working in tech, Porat says, "Both were intellectually curious. but the sheer breadth of what we cover at alphabet is extraordinary" #dealbook

A reminder: Follow our live coverage of the #DealBook Online Summit here https://nyti.ms/2Hc7cbY 

On how to improve gender equality in the workplace, Porat notes that you need a lot -- policy and programs, and also money. "The words are nice but you’ve got to put money behind it." #dealbook

Porat defends Google's performance during the election. "I am proud of what we’ve done in this election. We’ve hired thousands and thousands of people who focus on content, and we supplemented that with machine learning" #dealbook

Porat argues that the company has worked hard to be anchored to "authoritative data" and on "being as objective as possible" #dealbook