Ryan Nicol

About Ryan Nicol

A visionary and results-driven product leader with a proven track record of conceiving, building, and launching transformative Generative AI solutions. As a founding product leader and driving force behind Google Cloud\'s Food Ordering AI Agent, I spearheaded a groundbreaking new product from inception to global launch, impacting billions of potential users worldwide. Simultaneously, I led a significant transformation within Wendy\'s, enabling them to effectively adopt and scale this cutting-edge technology. This work has been recognized by Fast Company as one of the Next Big Things in Tech in 2024. My expertise spans AI product vision, strategy, innovation, cloud transformation, and strategic partnerships. I thrive in fast-paced environments, leading cross-functional teams and securing executive buy-in for complex initiatives. Passionate about leveraging the power of AI to revolutionize industries and create exceptional customer experiences. Always seeking opportunities to lead innovative AI product development and drive significant business impact. Key Skills & Experience- AI Product Leadership & Innovation: Conversational AI, GenAI, Product Strategy, Product Vision, Roadmapping, Go-to-Market Strategy, Product Lifecycle Management - Enterprise Cloud & AI Transformation Strategy: Digital Transformation, Business Case Development, Stakeholder Management, Executive Alignment - Strategic Partnerships & Business Development: Negotiation, Contract Management, Relationship Building, Ecosystem Development - Enterprise Sales Leadership: Global F500, Account Management, Revenue Growth, Quota Attainment Featured Accomplishment: Spearheaded the entire product lifecycle, from initial concept and technical feasibility exploration through product development, launch, and scaling. This groundbreaking generative AI solution, now generally available, leverages LLMs, Cloud Speech, and Dialogflow to automate and enhance food ordering experiences for QSRs, driving significant business outcomes. This initiative has generated billions of media impressions, further solidified Google Cloud\'s leadership in GenAI, secured major cross-industry partnerships, and resulted in a real-world application of generative AI used by millions of people of all ages and backgrounds—from 4-year-olds to 92-year-olds! In parallel, I led a significant transformation within Wendy\'s, developing and implementing a comprehensive program that addressed operational, go-to-market, rollout, and governance challenges, enabling them to successfully integrate and scale FreshAI across their organization.

Experience

1. Founding Product Leader, Google Cloud Food Ordering Ai Agent & Key Account Lead

   Google

   Apr 2020 — Present · Columbus, OH, US

   Founding Product Leader: Spearheaded the creation and launch of the Food Ordering AI Agent, a new SKU within Google Cloud\'s Applied AI product portfolio. Led the entire product lifecycle from ideation through development, launch, and scaling, navigating complex internal processes to bring this field-sourced innovation to a globally available product with the potential to impact billions.Wendy\'s AI Transformation: Orchestrated a multi-year, strategic partnership with Wendy\'s, driving their adoption of cutting-edge data and AI for enhanced customer experiences and operational efficiency- Leading the development and implementation of award-winning FreshAI (powered by Google Cloud\'s Food Ordering AI Agent), from vision to rigorous testing hours) and refinement. Drove viral market interest (Billions of media impressions) and prominent showcases like Google Cloud Next, earning recognition from Fast Company as a Next Big Thing in Tech- Designing and implementing a comprehensive \"Scale Readiness Program\" to prepare Wendy\'s for deploying and managing this technology across their restaurant network, encompassing: Operational Readiness, Go-to-Market Readiness, Rollout Readiness, and Governance. This foundational program will serve as a template for future technology deployments at Wendy’s and applicable to any industry GenAI use case.Strategic QSR Visionary & AI Product Advocate: Serve as the key product visionary and advocate for Google\'s GenAI and Alphabet ecosystem within the QSR industry, driving transformative outcomes. Secured a landmark partnership between Wendy\'s and Alphabet Wing for automated food delivery.Consistent Overachievement: Consistently exceeded sales targets, earning \"Outstanding Impact\" ratings and numerous awards, including Google Cloud Club, Horizon (2x), Customer Empathy, and Stratosphere (3x) awards, recognizing top performance and contributions to Google Cloud’s success.

Education

• Ohio University

  Bachelor of Science (B.S.)