Gowtham Gundu joins Fetch to accelerate its AI-first vision

Indian American Google veteran Gowtham Gundu has joined Fetch, America’s Rewards App, as the company’s first-ever Chief AI Officer (CAIO) to lead its artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) strategy.

Gundu, brings nearly two decades of experience in building large-scale machine learning systems as the company doubles down on its AI-first approach, according to a company press release.

As CAIO, Gundu will strategically layer ML into the Fetch platform to advance advertising personalization, enhance user product discoverability and strengthen its core receipt scanning technology, it said. He will also explore where large language models (LLMs) and other ML innovations can unlock new platform capabilities.

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“Gowtham has built ML systems that support some of the most sophisticated advertising operations in the world,” said Wes Schroll, CEO and founder of Fetch. “He will help us take full advantage of the opportunity at our fingertips and build what others are only beginning to imagine.”

Gundu joins Fetch after more than 18 years at Google, where he most recently served as Director of Engineering for Ads Content Safety. He led teams responsible for protecting an over $250 billion advertising ecosystem, deploying ML at scale to ensure a safer, more effective user, publisher and advertiser experience. Gundu also pioneered the use of LLMs within Google Ads—work that earned multiple Ads Impact awards.

“Fetch has a bold vision for how AI can redefine not just a product, but an entire category,” said Gundu. “There’s an incredible opportunity to leverage and even advance the state-of-the-art ML to solve some of the toughest challenges in the advertising industry—and turn those breakthroughs into better experiences for users and better business outcomes for brands.”

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With this move, Fetch is reinforcing its belief that AI is central to meaningful innovation and the direction of its business, according to the release. In 2024, the company was awarded two U.S. patents for its AI- and ML-powered advertising technologies, the release stated.

Building on that momentum, Fetch hosted its first-ever AI Week in June, pausing operations companywide to not only build AI fluency and drive platform innovation, but to signal a lasting cultural shift.

“After 19 incredible years at one of the best companies ever built, I have decided to embark on an exciting new journey,” Gundu wrote on LinkedIn. “I have collected so many learnings and memories at Google that I will cherish for a very long time, and I want to thank every Googler who I had a chance to work with and learn from, and who has supported me in this fulfilling and life-changing journey. I wish you all the very best!!”