SAN FRANCISCO — Hours before the Google parent company was slated to release second-quarter earnings, Alphabet announced that Google CEO Sundar Pichai had been elected to its board of directors.

Pichai is the board's 13th member. His ascension reflects confidence in his stewardship of Google.

“Sundar has been doing a great job as Google’s CEO, driving strong growth, partnerships, and tremendous product innovation," Alphabet CEO Larry Page said in a statement. "I really enjoy working with him and I’m excited that he is joining the Alphabet board."

Pichai, a champion of the company's artificial intelligence efforts, was tapped as CEO of Google in August 2015. Google is the engine that drives Alphabet, accounting for the majority of the parent company's revenue. After Apple, Alphabet is the second most valuable U.S. company.

Alphabet is scheduled to report quarterly results after the close of markets on Monday.