For Google CEO Jattvibedar Pichai, IIT-Kharagpur is more than the place where he began his academic journey. It is where he learnt to do programming, stayed up late studying, made lifelong friends, and met the woman who would become his wife, Anjali.As IIT-Kharagpur celebrates its 75th anniversary, the Google CEO took a trip down the memory lane in a video message to his alma mater, revisiting the little campus moments that have stayed with him even as his career took him from India to the helm of one of the world’s biggest technology companies.Pichai’s recollections were distinctly student-like: meals at Harry’s, the Illu Festival, late nights studying in B308 and friendships forged with his wingmates. He also remembered the professors who left a lasting impression on him.“Campus is where I met my wife Anjali, where I first learned to program, and where I had my very first few opportunities to use a computer carrying floppy disks around campus,” he said.Those early experiences, he said, ultimately “shaped the course” of his life, putting him on a path that would lead to Google and his larger ambition of making technology accessible to as many people as possible.Looking back, Pichai described an education from IIT Kharagpur as “truly a gift” and credited the institution with shaping the lens through which he continues to think about making an impact on the world.But his message wasn’t only about nostalgia. Pichai also looked ahead, speaking about India’s growing role in technology and the possibilities offered by artificial intelligence.He said the next five years could see AI move beyond laboratories and early adopters and become part of everyday working life, helping healthcare workers, government officials, farmers, developers and entrepreneurs work in new ways.“We are building AI so that it can help all of us do our work at the next level and do it in a more fulfilling way,” he said.Pichai also recalled meeting Gemini student ambassadors from across India at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi earlier this year, saying their enthusiasm for using technology to improve lives left him optimistic about the future.He praised IIT-Kharagpur under Director Suman Chakraborty’s leadership for working to take technology from laboratories to people’s lives, particularly through initiatives in healthcare and innovation aimed at underserved communities.For someone who has spent decades at the cutting edge of technology, however, the most personal part of Pichai’s message was a reminder that some of life’s biggest milestones can begin in the most ordinary campus moments with a late night in a hostel room, a first computer, a festival with friends or meeting someone who would eventually become family.“Happy Platinum Jubilee, and here’s to the next 75 years,” Pichai said.