Prue Mackenzie (1996)
Head in the Cloud
As a Director at Google in Paris, Prue Mackenzie (1996) operates at the frontier of global business innovation.
Leading Google Cloud’s retail, luxury and travel teams across UK/Europe and the Middle East, she advises major corporations on how to integrate AI and the latest technology into their core operations.
While her day-to-day focus is on driving value and operational efficiency, the unique cultural landscape of the French capital provides a balancing outlook on the future of technology.
`Living in Paris provides a perspective that I think is quite unique. It’s a lovely juxtaposition to my working day,’ Prue says.
In an era where the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence is reshaping entire industries, Prue's role goes far beyond deploying algorithms. She works at the intersection of technological disruption and human capability, helping global brands navigate the technology change while ensuring their workforces are equipped to thrive and the value of their brands remains connected to their mission and history.
For Prue, work has long been a place where pleasure and purpose can co-exist, with a passion for driving business growth that began at a Brisbane breakfast table in the ‘90s.
In what was surely must have been a very unusual habit for a teenager, Prue would pore over ASX listings in the The Courier-Mail each morning before School, fascinated by the fluctuating valuations.
`I remember wondering why some were $3 and others were $10 and why the prices changed each day.’
At university, where she studied Finance as part of a Commerce degree, Prue worked part-time and began investing her earnings in $1000 parcels of stock, monitoring both the news and share prices to see how one impacted the other.
The process taught her she didn’t want to trade stocks. She wanted to help businesses drive their share price higher by unpicking the fundamental mechanisms behind corporate growth.
Initially, Prue achieved this through a career in investment banking, helping companies finance large-scale acquisitions and raising capital to fund growth projects. However, after a decade in the sector, she noticed a common denominator among the market's biggest success stories.
`Those that adopted tech faster saw improvements to their business performance,' she says.
Prue (third row, fourth from left) in her final year at Brisbane Girls Grammar School.
`We have always dreamed big, worked hard and wanted to have a positive impact on the world.'
This realization prompted a pivotal career switch from finance to technology—a move that ultimately took her to Google's Paris headquarters. Today, she is responsible for working with her clients to understand how Google’s technology, particularly AI and agentic AI, can help them run their businesses more profitably.
`At Google, we are developing AI and agentic AI technology at a pace never before experienced," Prue says, explaining that the tools being rolled out today go far beyond simply building a better consumer app or website.
`It is also about how Google AI can be adopted so my clients operate more efficient supply chains, source raw materials sustainably, provide a great experience for their clients online with fun solutions like virtual try on and ensure that their people are trained to use this technology to realise these benefits.'
In the modern workforce, it is a matter of adapt or be left behind. `AI won't take your job—someone using AI will take your job,' she says. "I didn't come up with this saying, but I love it.'
Yet, in high-stakes leadership roles, Prue emphasizes that understanding technology is only half the equation; nurturing human connections within cross-cultural teams is just as critical to business performance. When she first stepped into the Paris office, she recognized that navigating distinct European corporate cultures required intentionality. Building trust meant demonstrating an appreciation for local nuances—a philosophy she playfully illustrated early on when she brought a box of chocolates from the renowned boutique chocolatier Patrick Roger into the office. It served as an icebreaker, showing colleagues that she understood the importance of the artisan food culture in Paris and was committed to building genuine connections.
While her career has spanned multiple continents, Prue says her approach to leadership remains anchored in great communication, a clear strategy and having the best people in her team. From her perspective, wanting a team to perform at their best, enjoy their roles and be well-compensated to support their families are universal objectives that do not change by geography.
What changes, she says, is how long it takes to build trust and how leaders motivate individuals and foster community.
Despite living thousands of miles away, Prue credits her sister, Penny, and her lifelong friends from her Girls Grammar days as an enduring source of professional inspiration and personal support.
`We have always dreamed big, worked hard and wanted to have a positive impact on the world,' she says. `Today, my sister runs the radiation oncology division at The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital and finished her PhD last year. I have friends in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade representing Australia around the world and my best friend runs a hugely successful business in Sydney. They inspire me every day.'
Living in a global centre for fashion, art, and innovation ultimately provides Prue with a grounded perspective. As technology becomes increasingly pervasive, it requires leaders to be even more deliberate about its application, she says.
`Yes, we can have an AI agent buy our next pair of running shoes, but at the end of the day, what gives us the most pleasure is sharing a delicious meal with friends and family, looking at a beautiful garden.
`As AI becomes more present in our lives, it requires us to be even more intentional about how we use it for good, but continue to value those things in life, particularly human interaction, that really do give us great pleasure.'
Prue with BGGS classmate Sheridan Emerson (1996)
Prue with her sister Penny