My Next Chapter - NotebookLM
Building for Trust, Scaling for Wonder
A few weeks ago, Simon Tokumin and Josh Woodward presented me with an opportunity I couldn’t ignore: the chance to lead NotebookLM.
I’ll admit, I was deeply conflicted. I have loved everything about my time in the GenMedia group, and the teams we’ve built in Labs are truly special. Project Genie is delivering breakthroughs on an entirely new universe of interactive experiences. Flow Music (formerly producer.ai) is already pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with sound, and Doppl is bringing our virtual try-on technology to life in shopping. Leaving that work, and the people who made it possible, is not an easy choice.
But after consulting my council of advisors and digging into the roadmap, I ultimately decided that the challenge ahead at NotebookLM is one I’m eager to take on. I’m accepting this with a healthy dose of “uncomfortable excitement.”
I’m also fully aware that I am stepping into the footsteps of people I deeply admire. Raiza, Josh, and Simon have built an incredible foundation of user love, rooted in trust and genuine utility. My goal is to build upon that culture with the same care they’ve shown.
To the teams I’m leaving behind, Elias, Elliott, Sakshi, Pavan, Nicole, Seth, and Diego you are an absolutely unmatched group of product leaders. While I’m literally just moving across the hall, I will sincerely miss working with you as closely as I have.
The Opportunity
NotebookLM is a crown jewel at Google, and I take the responsibility of stewarding it seriously. It is a profound honor to guide this product into the agentic era.
NotebookLM isn’t just a novelty, it is a genuine partner for research, learning, and project organization. Its fundamental promise is its grounding. It is built entirely from the sources you provide, with clear citations that let you verify every output yourself. In a world where healthy skepticism of AI is necessary, that transparency is our strongest asset.
As I settle into this role, I’m focused on one central question: How do we scale NotebookLM without losing touch with what makes the product special?
We recently began rolling out our integration into Gemini, which will introduce NotebookLM to millions of new users. The risk is that the product identity becomes diluted as we reach a broader, more diverse audience. We’ve delighted our early power users by focusing on the “learning journey,” turning dense information into synthesized “magic.” As we grow, my priority is ensuring that our commitment to grounding and trust remains the North Star. We will use these new surfaces as a doorway, while keeping the “core notebook” experience a place where the real work happens.
What Comes Next
Technically, I joined the team last week. You may have noticed I missed my usual weekly post, a first since I started publishing here. I made the decision to prioritize getting up to speed and truly understanding the team’s needs before I picked up the pen again. It’s been an incredible first week.
I’m thrilled to be partnering with this team to grow both our product and our culture. We are on a mission to build tools that help people learn and work more naturally, not by replacing them with AI, but by partnering with them to become the best versions of themselves.
I’m also committed to staying engaged with the people who use this product. You can find me here on Substack, on X, and on Reddit. I want to build in the open, stay close to your feedback, and showcase our team’s commitment to building this with you.
We have a lot of work to do, and I couldn’t be more excited to get started.
— Trond