"We definitely see uncertainty ahead, like everyone else," Pichai told CNBC's Deirdre Bosa in an interview on Wednesday at Google's annual I/O conference in Mountain View, California. "The good thing is we've been around as a company for a while. [We] have worked through past moments like this, be it 2008 or the early days of the pandemic, and we take a long-term view."

He also said he thought the economy would "take time to work through" the current high rate of inflation.

"What gives uncertainty is there are so many different factors, be it supply chain issues or be it rising energy prices," Pichai said.

"I do think people are seeing relief in certain sectors," he suggested, pointing to travel as an example. "But then you have other new areas which are showing problems, maybe due to supply chain constraints. ... Energy has been an issue, as an example. In some cases rentals have gone up, and food prices."

The Nasdaq is headed for its steepest quarterly drop since the end of 2008, when the economy was in the throes of the housing crisis. Consumer prices jumped 8.3% in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday, higher than expected and close to their 40-year high of 8.5%.