Overview
Tony Gentilcore is co-founder and head of product engineering at Glean [1][3][5]. Gentilcore spent ten years at Google as a senior staff software engineer from 2006 to 2016, where Gentilcore built components of Search and Chrome and founded the Chrome Speed Team [8]. Between Google and Glean, Gentilcore worked as an independent engineer and technical advisor [6] and as a founding member at Post Social, Inc. [7]. Prior to Google, Gentilcore worked as a software engineer at AT&T [9] and as a web and software developer at TJC Labs [10]. Gentilcore holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Saint Louis University [11].
Profile introduction
Co-founder of Glean. Head of Product Engineering, still in the code when I can. Before Glean: 10 years at Google. Built parts of Search and Chrome that ~2B people used. Founded the Chrome Speed Team, W3C Web Performance Working Group. Now my days split between shipping with the team and sitting with Fortune 500 CIOs. Same conclusion from both sides: the companies that will thrive in the AI era own their data, choose their models, and have the right context layer between them. Hiring across roles. https://www.glean.com/careers
Career history
- Co-founder / Head of Product EngApr 2019 to PresentGlean
- Independent Engineer & Technical AdvisorJun 2018 to Jun 2019Freelance
- Founding MemberJun 2016 to Jun 2017Post Social, Inc.
- Senior Staff Software EngineerJun 2006 to Jun 2016Google
- Software Engineer, Business SystemsJun 2004 to Jun 2006AT&T
- Web & Software DeveloperJun 1998 to Jun 2004TJC Labs
Education
Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Electrical and Electronics Engineering2000 - 2004Saint Louis University
Insights & ideas
The through-line
The only material available on Tony Gentilcore is a short show-notes description of a conversation about Glean and the broader "SaaSpocalypse" moment in SaaS markets. It attributes to him a discussion of what happened to software company valuations and his perspective as Glean's co-founder, someone previously involved in Google Search and Chrome, navigating that environment [1]. Beyond identifying this topic, the notes do not lay out his actual arguments or conclusions in enough detail to characterize a recurring position or how his thinking has evolved.
On the SaaS market shakeout
The show notes indicate that Gentilcore discussed the sudden loss of roughly $2 trillion in SaaS market capitalization and what it means for companies like Glean, framed against commentary that Sam Altman had reportedly warned investors about the company [1]. No further detail on his specific views, explanations, or predictions is provided in the source material.
Takeaways
- The conversation centers on the "SaaSpocalypse," a period in which SaaS market cap fell by an estimated $2 trillion, and Glean's position within that shakeout [1].
- Gentilcore's background includes work on Google Search and Chrome prior to co-founding Glean, which the source frames as relevant context for the discussion [1].
Media & appearances
- Forward DeployedApple PodcastsTony Gentilcore - Glean, the $7.2B Startup Sam Altman Warned Investors AboutEarlier this year, the "SaaSpocalypse" wiped out something like $2 trillion of SaaS market cap in a matter of weeks — so I sat down with Tony Gentilcore, co-founder of Glean and formerly one of the minds behind Google Search and Chrome, to figure out
In the news
- Reposted Glean
- This is the part people underestimate. An agent can sound great and still grab the wrong doc, call the wrong tool, or leave the task half-done. Evals surface those failures before users do.
- Thanks to @karibriski and Vivek Raghunathan for joining me on stage at Glean:GO last week. Two lines from our conversations have stuck with me.
Kari: “Bugs are love letters to my products.” At @nvidia, one of her favorite uses of @Glean is asking which bugs are affecting a https://t.co/o6dgWd3n9G
- We've been investing heavily in our harness and routing capabilities, and we put them to the test benchmarking Glean's token costs against Claude Cowork. The results were striking: @Glean is 4x more cost-effective, averaging $0.45 per task versus $1.84 for Claude Cowork.
That https://t.co/H9rpezltF2
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