Google has hired the former CTO of Samsung Electronics to lead its IoT business. Injong Rhee, who left Samsung in the management reshuffle last year, announced the move in a post on LinkedIn, saying he will become entrepreneur-in residence to lead the IoT business. Rhee will report to Diane Greene, CEO of Google Cloud and board member of Google’s parent company Alphabet.
Google and Alphabet have a wide range of IoT-related products and assets, from consumer devices like Google Home and Nest to developer and enterprise platforms for managing IoT devices and services. Rhee said he plans to start with getting these efforts "coordinated and aligned toward a concerted IoT story of Google -- in the process, create distinct consumer and enterprise product lines".
His appointment follows the news that Google is integrating Nest with its own hardware division.
Rhee was at Samsung for more than six years, most recently serving as chief technology officer and head of software and services’ research and development. He was involved in the launch of the company’s Knox security system, Bixby digital assistant and Samsung Pay mobile wallet.
