# Rob Shilkin

> Rob Shilkin is Vice President of Global Communications and Public Affairs at Google, overseeing one of the world's most complex corporate communications functions. A former antitrust lawyer from Australia who trained at Clayton Utz and Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Shilkin brings rare legal-policy fluency to Google's communications challenges - including antitrust litigation, AI debates, content moderation, and online advertising policy. His team handles approximately 2,000 issues per year. He took overall leadership of Google's communications in 2023, reporting to Chief Marketing Officer Lorraine Twohill, and has been recognized in Provoke Media's Influence 100 2025 rankings.

- **Role:** Vice President Global Communications and Public Affairs at Google
- **Organizations:** Google, Clayton Utz, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, University of Western Australia
- **From:** Australia
- **Nationality:** Australian
- **Education:** Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Economics, University of Western Australia
- **Known for:** Named to Provoke Media's Influence 100 2025 - most influential communications professionals globally, Took overall leadership of Google's global communications function in 2023, Manages a communications team handling approximately 2,000 issues per year (about 7 per day)

## Career timeline

- **1993** — Enrolled at University of Western Australia, studying Law and Economics
- **1997** — Graduated with LLB (Hons) and BEc from University of Western Australia
- **1997-2003** — Practiced as an antitrust lawyer at Clayton Utz, Australia
- **2003-2006** — Continued legal career at Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Australia
- **2006** — Joined Google, transitioning from law to technology communications
- **2023** — Elevated to overall leadership of Google's global communications function
- **2024** — Featured at Axios Communicators Live event in New York City discussing Google's communications strategy
- **2025** — Named to Provoke Media's Influence 100 rankings of most influential communications professionals

## Achievements

- Named to Provoke Media's Influence 100 2025 - most influential communications professionals globally
- Took overall leadership of Google's global communications function in 2023
- Manages a communications team handling approximately 2,000 issues per year (about 7 per day)
- Developed an AI tool that summarizes and groups questions for executives, increasing employee engagement
- Oversaw communications through Google's major antitrust litigation around search
- Built rare cross-functional fluency spanning legal, policy, and media dimensions
- Reports directly to Google Chief Marketing Officer Lorraine Twohill

## Latest updates

- **2025-01** — Named to Provoke Media's Influence 100 2025 rankings
- **2024-12** — Featured speaker at Axios Communicators Live event in New York City discussing Google's communications strategy
- **2023-01** — Elevated to overall leadership of Google's global communications and public affairs function

## Links

- Website: https://google.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-shilkin-b31a98a
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/robshilkin
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VevVK-f93A
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/GoogleFiber

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/rob-shilkin
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-31