Microsoft chief product officer to depart; tech large proclaims roles reshuffle

Microsoft Corp. mentioned its chief product officer is leaving, a big departure for the corporate’s {hardware} and Windows divisions.

Panos Panay will keep lengthy sufficient to assist his replacements transition into the function, Rajesh Jha, govt vice chairman of the experiences and gadgets group, introduced in an e mail to staff on Monday.

Panay, who had been with Microsoft since 2004, was central to the corporate’s {hardware} efforts in his function main the Surface pc division and most not too long ago heading the Windows unit. Pavan Davuluri is being tapped to supervise working techniques, gadgets and chips associated to desktop purchasers, cloud and synthetic intelligence. Yusuf Mehdi will work with computer-maker and retail partnerships, Jha mentioned.

“Thank you, Panos, for your impact on our products, culture, company, and industry over the past two decades,” Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella mentioned in a press release, including that the corporate will “remain steadfast and convicted in our strategy.”

Panay served as common supervisor for Surface when the preliminary tablets, Microsoft’s first piece of pc {hardware}, have been launched in 2012. Since then, he’s led an enlargement into laptops, desktops and equipment. The gadgets attracted comparisons to Apple, because of glitzy launch occasions and a give attention to element and high-quality design.

More not too long ago, Microsoft has scaled again the Surface operation, axing personnel and chopping slow-selling merchandise. The firm’s HoloLens mixed-reality goggles undertaking, overseen by Panay since 2022, has additionally struggled, thanks partially to a delayed US Army contract.

The firm’s “commitment” to Surface and the mixed-reality enterprise “remains unchanged,” Jha wrote in his e mail.

Davuluri, a 20-year Microsoft veteran, is a vice chairman in Windows and Device engineering and has led silicon and techniques integration. Mehdi has been at Microsoft for greater than 30 years and first got here to prominence as the pinnacle of selling campaigns for Internet Explorer within the Nineteen Nineties. More not too long ago he has held roles at Xbox, Windows and Bing.