Here's what Googlers and startups have to say about new Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian's strategy, three months into his reign

"Google is stepping up and saying we are going to win this war and need to fight. At the end of the day, everyone has an agenda. Until now, they were losing the war. The way Google is playing, they're saying, this is the community company. They're branding themselves better and going multi-cloud. I feel [Kurian is] going to bring them to enterprise."

"The core strategy predates Thomas and he's a strong supporter. His big addition has been to make sure we don't do it strategically but have a vertical by vertical focus, as in how do you customize for retail and financial services? It helps you be more clear on what customers actually need and want.

Sales has been comparatively small in the industry...We have tons of leads. How do you convert those leads into dollars? That's where Thomas Kurian has direct experience and credibility. I think we've known for a while we need a bigger sales team and customer support."

"Our early experiences with Kurian is exactly what we'd hope for from a big cloud provider. He exhibited a clear understanding of open source benefits and the commercial reality. That's good for everyone when all those can be satisfied together."

"I'm not surprised they hired Thomas Kurian. Google's really pushing multi-cloud. I heard Thomas Kurian wanted to do that at Oracle, but Larry Ellison wanted to do their own private cloud...This aligns with his strategic vision."

"I think Thomas is really talking about customers. This has been in Google's culture always -- putting users and focusing on what users need or want to be successful. He's passionate about that. I find that this is a great fit for Google."

"The opening keynote felt like there was a more enterprise focus. They wore suits and brought in customers who were legitimate representations…You have to look at the ways enterprises want to buy. I think Thomas Kurian brings that experience."

"I think Thomas is an extremely strong enterprise strategist. The cloud has evolved. What we saw over the last three to four years, the question was could you figure out how you dealt with cloud infrastructure at scale? The question has been, how does the enterprise market evolve. He's the strongest strategist I've worked with. It's not an overnight thing. It's continuous."

"What Thomas brings to the table is some of that enterprise experience. He's saying, 'we need to go out and hunt whales, as in large enterprises.' Over time, how [does Google] become the de facto standard? That's what Thomas Kurian can bring to the table."