Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is out as executive chairman of parent company Alphabet, the company said Thursday. He'll stay on as a technical advisor while continuing to serve as a director.

The change will be effective with the Alphabet Inc. board's next regular meeting in January. Schmidt will stay on to advise on science and technology issues, according to a statement from Alphabet.

"Larry, Sergey, Sundar and I all believe that the time is right in Alphabet's evolution for this transition. The Alphabet structure is working well, and Google and the Other Bets are thriving," Schmidt said in the Alphabet statement, referencing Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin, as well as Google CEO Sundar Pichai. "In recent years, I've been spending a lot of my time on science and technology issues, and philanthropy, and I plan to expand that work."

Schmidt tweeted his decision at 2:15 p.m. PT on Thursday.

Figure 1: Google at Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, 2017.

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Schmidt served with Google and its successor, Alphabet, for 17 years. He was Google's CEO from 2001 to 2011, overseeing the company's 2004 IPO and meteoric rise. He was brought in as a seasoned executive who could provide "adult supervision" to Google's still-boyish founders, Page and Brin.

Schmidt's changing role reflects changes in Washington, D.C. Schmidt was close to President Barack Obama and gave money and technical support to Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, notes The New York Times.

Alphabet will pick a non-executive chairman to replace Schmidt, the company said.

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— Mitch Wagner Editor, Enterprise Cloud News