Dave Burke Steps Down as Android Engineering Lead

In the wake of a major Google reorganization, Dave Burke revealed that he is stepping down from his role as vice president of Android Engineering after 14 years. Google has yet to announce his replacement.

“After 14 years with Android, I’ve decided it’s time for a change,” Mr. Burke wrote on LinkedIn. “I’ll be stepping away from leading Android Engineering and shifting into an advisory position while exploring AI/bio projects. AI has the potential to play a pivotal role in accelerating drug discovery, with wide applicability, including in hard-to-treat pediatric cancers, a topic close to my heart. I’m working with [Google CEO] Sundar [Pichai] to explore relevant roles at Alphabet.”

Burke was a fixture at Google events like I/O and was, by far, my favorite Google presenter, thanks to his personable, easy-going manner and firm command of the subject. He cites an astonishing array of innovations he took part in while at Android, including Chrome for mobile, computational photography, numerous personal safety features, Android TV, foldable form factors, “provably private on-device AI,” and many others. He’s notes his involvement in “Nexus Galaxy, S, 4 – 7, 10, Player and later Google Pixel 1-7.”

“But at the end of the day, what I’m most proud of is the team I helped build as we scaled Android users 3000x from 1 million to over 3 billion,” he writes. “Working with you, and representing your work publicly, has been the biggest honor of my career. It’s important for me to leave you in good hands with a well thought out succession plan. We’ll be following up shortly with some additional specifics about this change, so please keep an eye out for that.”

Dave Burke is one of the good guys. He’ll be missed.