Editor's note: Meet the Mapmakers is a series highlighting the people who shape Google Maps Platform. Tune in as our Mapmakers offer their unique perspectives on the platform’s present and future, and share stories about their personal journeys.
How a weekend in Quebec City changed everything
I grew up in a small town of about 6,000 people in central Connecticut. Until I was 15, I had never left the country—my first trip abroad was a school excursion to Quebec City for a long weekend. That experience sparked a lifelong fascination with other cultures.
As soon as I could, I moved out of my small town. I had this sense that there was a bigger world out there—and I wanted to see it. That’s the lens through which I’ve viewed everything in my life.
How living abroad taught me to ask better questions
My hunger for travel and culture took me far and wide – first to Italy and Spain for study abroad programs in college, then to Mexico City for a business fellowship. That fellowship turned into four years across Latin America as a management consultant, and later on I continued working globally with research projects in South Africa, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Barcelona, Spain
Those international experiences were formative. When you’re in a country where you don’t speak the language or understand the local customs, you have to learn to communicate, adapt, and connect. This was before smartphones, so I had to develop a humble, persistent mentality: keep trying, keep asking questions, keep seeking understanding.
34 countries later, I’ve developed a deep appreciation for just how interconnected we are as people and all the similarities we share, no matter where we find ourselves on this planet. It’s the foundation I brought with me to Google.
My role on the Google Maps Platform team
Today, I lead product strategy and operations for go-to-market within Google Maps Platform. My scope includes our core API and SDK products, including our Environment suite. About three years ago, I stepped into this role with a clear goal: to make a bigger impact on the world, particularly in the climate space.
Machu Picchu Peru
Climate: A business opportunity for everyone
I often describe climate as a business opportunity for everybody. Many think of climate change as something you respond to after the fact—a cleanup scenario. But the reality is every organization should be thinking about climate risks now because the pace of change is accelerating.
What excites me is how much actionable data we have in the geospatial space—from Google Earth imagery to climate, air quality, solar, and weather data. This information tells us how the planet is changing in real time. And now, companies can use that data to assess risks, make better decisions, and ultimately protect their businesses and communities.
That’s the magic of geospatial data: it connects planetary change to business impact.
How AI will change the game
AI is going to transform how we think about climate and decision-making. Today, climate data is often fragmented and hard to harmonize—this is where AI excels. It can aggregate and standardize disparate datasets, making them more usable and accessible.
Beyond that, AI can generate new insights by recognizing patterns across multimodal data—satellite imagery, historical weather records, predictive models, even scanned PDFs. The ability to combine all these sources unlocks a level of understanding we’ve never had before.
In a few years, I believe we’ll eliminate most gaps in climate data. Questions like “What’s the predicted ocean temperature at this point 45 days from now?”or “What’s the wildfire risk if I don’t replant native vegetation in this region?” will have answers. And as AI helps us see interconnected patterns, we’ll uncover new solutions to mitigate climate change and adapt to its impacts.
Brasilia, Brazil
Balancing innovation with responsibility
Of course, AI brings its own challenges—chief among them, energy consumption. Training large models requires significant compute power, which can put pressure on energy grids. That’s why we must balance innovation with responsibility, ensuring we meet renewable energy goals and minimize emissions while deploying AI solutions.
The possibilities ahead
The potential applications are endless. For example, weather and extreme weather patterns affect so many business operations. Imagine you’re a trucking company with a fleet on the road, and an extreme storm floods a major highway and shuts it down. You might end up stranded halfway, unable to deliver your shipment for days—or even a week—because that route is completely blocked.
Now imagine you had accurate, actionable weather forecasts three days in advance. Instead of taking the original seven-hour route that looked optimal under normal conditions, you could reroute through a 13-hour alternative. It’s longer, yes—but you’d still make the delivery within a day rather than sitting idle for a week. That’s the difference between operational resilience and major disruption.
This is where our customers are going to start to see even more value: by combining products like our Weather API (powered by Google’s AI and Weather models) with Route Optimization. When businesses layer these capabilities together, they’re not just planning the faster route—they’re planning the smarter route, optimized for future weather conditions
And that’s just one example. Consider renewable energy planning: businesses can use solar data to identify the best rooftops or parking lots for solar installations, paired with predictive climate insights to maximize returns. When you start to combine multiple Google Maps Platform products with AI-driven insights, the value grows exponentially.
The superpower that guides my work
When teams are stuck, I’m often the one they call—whether it’s solving a customer challenge, aligning engineering and business priorities, or cracking a tough metrics problem. My approach is simple: stay curious, ask questions, and dig until we find the root cause.
If I had to name my superpower, it’s this: I speak everyone’s language. That skill comes from years spent navigating different cultures, being willing to ask uncomfortable questions, and finding common ground.
Looking ahead
The challenges we face, from climate change to global sustainability, are complex—but they’re not insurmountable. With the power of geospatial data and AI, we can see the world more clearly than ever before and make decisions that truly matter. I’m excited for what lies ahead: helping businesses, communities, and innovators unlock the full value of Google Maps Platform to protect what’s valuable and build a more resilient future.
When we connect the dots—between people, places, and data—we unlock possibilities that were once unimaginable. And that, to me, is the real magic of maps.
Lisa Lovallo Ceppos is the Global Head of Product Strategy and Operations for Google Maps Platform based in Connecticut.
