CHICAGO, August 11, 2026 — Go2MarketEdge attendees came to Silicon Valley to learn about the potential of AI. In the process, they got a glimpse of how Google has structured its office procedures and policies to ensure the tech behemoth is constantly striving for that goal.
For one thing, no product-focused meeting lasts more than a half-hour, said Joana Carrasqueira, product & special projects lead for Google’s DeepMind operation. An agenda —”We always have an agenda, she noted”—is drafted the day beforehand.
If something isn’t on the topic list, it’s off limits. "You missed your chance," said Carrasqueira. The conversation is limited to the listed topics.
The champion of the application being proposed is expected to come with something much more advanced than an idea. By meeting time, they’ve brainstormed a prototype—a crude model, not a mere notion.
Other participants are expected to have briefed themselves on the suggested product. The objective is to use the time to air suggestions and criticisms, and not to learn the capabilities or purpose.
The 30-minute limit is a hard stop.
The half-hour of brainstorming is combined with other 30-minute sessions that could have a completely different focus. The objective is forming a meeting block of 30-minute modules.
That way, said Carrasqueira, participants don’t have to constantly pivot from their core work to a meeting and back again in a fit of mental gymnastics. “If you’re in the flow of working, you’re not interrupted,” said Carrasqueira.
The prototype may have been hammered out in a collaborative meeting that involved various departments and stakeholders. Those sessions have a time limit of one hour.
Carrasqueira indicated that Google strictly enforces the process for the sake of efficiency. The proof, she noted, is in the output.
“When I first joined Google, we used to do eight to 10 [product] releases per year,” said the executive. “Last year we had 487 releases.”
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