After 13 years, Bruno Bianchini left his Google career for sustainability work: It wasn’t an easy choice as his values changed

From consulting to Google

Bianchini began studying accounting, corporate finance, and law in 2005, then completed a master’s in business administration. A university connection led him to a boutique consulting firm, and his early projects included a hotel, a food company, and a pressure-gauge maker.

In 2012, he met a Google employee at a birthday dinner and interviewed for a role. He recalled changing out of his jacket and tie before the interview, where he met three interviewers and felt drawn to the people he might work with.

A year later, he joined full time, working with DoubleClick for Publishers, now part of Google Ad Manager. In 2016, he visited the company’s Dubai office and the San Francisco campus, experiences that left him impressed by the scale of the workplace and its technology culture.

A senior role and new direction

By 2024, Bianchini was Google’s Head of Global Partnerships for the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey. Office days typically followed a 9-to-5 schedule, while travel brought a heavier pace of breakfasts, events, and client meetings.

While still at Google, he explored university programs in sustainability and found one at Harvard. He later spent four months in Cambodia during a sabbatical before deciding to leave the company.

Google told him he could return if his next step did not work out. After coming back from his sabbatical, Bianchini submitted his resignation, despite giving up a role with annual total compensation above $300,000.

Building a sustainability project

Bianchini said he now feels purposeful, confident in the abilities Harvard gave him, and financially secure enough to take a risk. He wants to draw on his business and finance background in his new work.

He is working on a research paper about the Cambodia project and pursuing funds for a pilot remotely. This month, he moved to the Netherlands, which he described as one of the best places for green finance.