7 tech executives who raise their kids tech-free or seriously limit their screen time

In 2017, Google CEO Sundar Pichai told the New York Times that he tries to be intentional in limiting his family's collective screen time by making the TV difficult to access — but this decision wasn't without internal conflict.

"At home, our television is not easily accessible, so that there is 'activation energy' before you can easily go watch TV," Pichai said. "I'm genuinely conflicted, because I see what my kids learn from all this."

In addition to monitoring how much time his kids are spending using technology, Pichai said he tries to cut back on his own cellphone and computer use — not an easy feat for the CEO of a Fortune 500 tech company.

Pichai's standards for screen time in the household may stem from his own childhood in Chennai, India. He told Bloomberg that he grew up with little phone access, no computer, and no television.

Walter Isaacson, author of "Steve Jobs," told the New York Times in a 2014 interview that the Jobs household was a fairly tech-free one, even though it belonged to one of the most prolific tech executives in Silicon Valley history.

According to Isaacson, family dinners in particular were special to Jobs, the late Apple CEO, because they provided a space for him to discuss different topics and connect with his kids.

"Every evening Steve made a point of having dinner at the big long table in their kitchen, discussing books and history and a variety of things," Isaacson told the New York Times' Nick Bilton. "No one ever pulled out an iPad or computer. The kids did not seem addicted at all to devices."

In addition to having tech-free family dinners, apparently the Jobs children hadn't even tried out the iPad after it hit shelves in 2010.

"They haven't used it," Bilton recalled Jobs saying. "We limit how much technology our kids use at home."

In a 2017 interview with Good Housekeeping, Satya and Anu Nadella discussed the ways they diligently watch over their children's technology use, including receiving weekly reports on their computer use.

"Technology for entertainment is always going to be a negotiation in our house. How many movies, what kinds of video games," Anu said.

Although the daughter of Reddit cofounder Alex Ohanian and tennis icon Serena Williams is less than 2 years old, Ohanian told CNBC that the couple already have a game plan for when their toddler develops a curiosity for all things digital.

"My wife and I both want her to know what it's like to have limits on tech," Ohanian said. "I do look forward to playing video games with her when she's older, but it's really important that she gets time to just be with her thoughts and be with her blocks and be with her toys, so we'll be regulating it pretty heavily."

Mark Cuban, the billionaire investor and star of "Shark Tank," initially set up a rewards system for his kids to earn screen time. For every hour of reading, the Cuban kids would get two hours of Netflix. His son would often also exchange math problems for Minecraft time.

But once his kids figured out ways to get around the rules — like borrowing a friend's Netflix password — Cuban wised up. He installed special routers that can detect what apps his kids are using in addition to giving him the option to turn off activity.

"That's the downside of having a geeky dad, you know. I can figure all this stuff out," Cuban said on the Thrive Global Podcast in 2017.

Spiegel himself grew up not watching TV as a kid, and has said it forced him to read, build things, and think for himself. He told the Financial Times that he wants to pass on the same benefits to his daughter.

Though that doesn't necessarily mean he wants to completely cut her off from technology.

"I think the more interesting conversation to have is really around the quality of that screen time," Spiegel told the Financial Times.

Spiegel has in the past advocated for more parents to consider reevaluating and limiting their kids' screen time.