Why every company now needs to think and operate like a lab team | Josh Woodward (VP Google Labs)

Josh Woodward is the head of Google Labs, the Gemini app, and AI Studio. He has spent over 17 years at Google and oversees its longest-running and largest labs team, whose products include NotebookLM (now Gemini Notebook), Project Genie, and Flow. His job is to find, experiment with, and scale new AI products, and he has built one of the most distinctive product cultures in the industry for generating ideas, running experiments, and, even more importantly, knowing when to quit. *In our in-depth conversation, we discuss:* 1. Why every company now needs to think and operate like a labs team 2. Where the best ideas really come from 3. The “almost possible” framework 4. How to recognize genuine product-market fit early 5. When to kill an idea 6. What skills are rising in value in the AI era 7. Why roles are not actually blurring into one universal builder role 8. How to set up your internal labs team *Brought to you by:* WorkOS—Make your app enterprise-ready, with SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more: https://workos.com/lenny DX—Engineering intelligence for the AI era: https://getdx.com/?utm_source=lenny&utm_medium=sponsorship&utm_campaign=q42026 *Episode transcript:* https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/why-every-company-now-needs-to-think *Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts:* https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0 *Highlights:* https://lennyspodcast.com/mostreplayedmoments *Where to find Josh Woodward:* • X: https://x.com/joshwoodward • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshwoodward *Where to find Lenny:* • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • X: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ *In this episode, we cover:* (00:00) Introduction (02:53) Why every company now needs to think like a labs team (05:43) Where great ideas come from (07:43) The “almost possible” framework (11:52) Finding product-market fit (16:09) Falling in love with the problem, not the solution (17:57) When to kill an idea (19:35) Overseeing Google Labs and the Gemini app (22:21) Next consumer AI breakthroughs (24:32) Google’s vision for a personal assistant (27:18) What is overhyped and underhyped in AI right now (31:36) Skills rising in value: unlearning rate, explosive endurance, trust (35:45) Why roles are not blurring into one universal builder role (38:59) Explosive endurance rhythms (41:31) How planning has changed: rolling windows and 100-day milestones (43:37) Labs lifecycle stages (47:37) Tips for setting up an internal lab (54:00) The future of products in an AI world (56:26) Google Labs culture, rituals, and closing thoughts *Referenced:* • Google Labs: https://labs.google • Gemini Notebook: https://notebook.google • Google Flow: https://flow.google.com • Google Beam: https://beam.google • Whisk: https://whisk-ai.io • Nano Banana: https://aistudio.google.com/models/nano-banana • Google Stitch: https://stitch.withgoogle.com • Gemini Spark: https://gemini.google/overview/agent/spark • Gemini Personal Intelligence: https://gemini.google/overview/personal-intelligence • Meta Muse: https://muse.ai • AI’s third era: the rise of persistent AI coworkers | Tara Seshan (Product Lead ChatGPT Work): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ais-third-era-the-rise-of-persistent • Lenny & Friends Summit: https://www.lennyssummit.com • Dan Shipper’s website: https://danshipper.com • Inside OpenAI | Logan Kilpatrick (head of developer relations): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-openai-logan-kilpatrick-head *Recommended book:* • The Master: The Long Run and Beautiful Game of Roger Federer: https://www.amazon.com/Master-Long-Beautiful-Roger-Federer/dp/1538767368 _Production and marketing by https://penname.co/._ _For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com._ Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.