Urs Hölzle

URS HÖLZLE is Google’s senior vice president of technical infrastructure. He oversees the design and operation of the servers, networks, and data centers that power Google’s services, as well as the development of the software infrastructure used by Google’s applications. Through efficiency innovations, Hölzle and his team have reduced the energy used by Google data centers to 50% of the industry average. Compared to five years ago, Google now gets seven times the computing power out of the same amount of energy. In addition, Hölzle manages many of Google’s other green initiatives, including the company’s purchases of renewable energy for its operations. Hölzle grew up in Switzerland—selling WWF stamps to raise money—and received a master’s degree in computer science from ETH Zurich and a PhD from Stanford University. He is one of the inventors of the fundamental techniques used in most of today’s Java compilers. Previously, Hölzle taught computer science at the University of California, Santa Barbara.