Microsoft’s product chief steps down

Microsoft Corp. mentioned its chief product officer is leaving, a major 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 vp of the experiences and gadgets group, introduced in an e mail to workers on Monday. 

Panay, who had been with Microsoft since 2004, was central to the corporate’s {hardware} efforts in his function main the Surface laptop division and most lately heading the Windows unit. Pavan Davuluri is being tapped to supervise working programs, gadgets and chips associated to desktop shoppers, cloud and synthetic intelligence. Yusuf Mehdi will work with computer-maker and retail partnerships, Jha mentioned.

“Thank you, Panos, on your impression on our merchandise, tradition, firm, and business over the previous twenty years,” Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella mentioned in a press release, including that the corporate will “stay steadfast and convicted in our technique.”

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

More lately, Microsoft has scaled again the Surface operation, axing personnel and slicing slow-selling merchandise. The firm’s HoloLens mixed-reality goggles challenge, overseen by Panay since 2022, has additionally struggled, thanks partially to a delayed US Army contract.

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

Davuluri, a 20-year Microsoft veteran, is a vp in Windows and Device engineering and has led silicon and programs integration. Mehdi has been at Microsoft for greater than 30 years and first got here to prominence as the top of selling campaigns for Internet Explorer within the Nineteen Nineties. More lately he has held roles at Xbox, Windows and Bing. 

https://fortune.com/2023/09/18/microsoft-product-chief-leaves/

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