Correct Answer : Pavan Davuluri
Microsoft is naming Pavan Davuluri as its new Windows and Surface chief from 26th Mar 2024. After Panos Panay’s surprise departure to Amazon last year (2023), Microsoft split up the Windows and Surface groups under two different leaders. Davuluri took over the Surface silicon and devices work, with Mikhail Parakhin leading a new team focused on Windows and web experiences. Now both Windows and Surface will be Davuluri’s responsibility, as Parakhin has “decided to explore new roles.”
The Verge has obtained an internal memo from Rajesh Jha, Microsoft’s head of experiences and devices, outlining the new Windows organization. Microsoft is now bringing together its Windows and devices teams once more. “This will enable us to take a holistic approach to building silicon, systems, experiences, and devices that span Windows client and cloud for this AI era,” explains Jha.
Mikhail Parakhin will now report to Kevin Scott during a transition phase, but his future at Microsoft looks uncertain, and it’s likely those “new roles” will be outside the company. Parakhin had been working closely on Bing Chat before taking on the broader Windows engineering responsibilities and changes to Microsoft Edge.
The Windows shake-up comes just days after Google DeepMind co-founder and former Inflection AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman joined Microsoft as the CEO of a new AI team. Microsoft also hired a bunch of Inflection AI employees, including co-founder Karén Simonyan who is now the chief scientist of Microsoft AI. As a result, most of Inflection’s staff is joining Microsoft AI in what is being seen as a talent acquisition that carefully avoids direct regulatory scrutiny.
Suleyman is now the CEO of Microsoft AI, a new team that will handle the company’s consumer-facing AI products like Copilot, Bing, and Edge. Suleyman reports directly to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and it looks like he was set to manage Mikhail Parakhin, but that’s no longer the case.
Jha says the Windows team will “work closely with the Microsoft AI team on AI, silicon, and experiences,” but there’s going to be some interesting areas of potential overlap that these new leaders are going to have to navigate. Microsoft AI now looks after Edge, a browser that’s a key part of the Windows experience.
Who is Pavan Davuluri?
* Pavan Kumar Davuluri is an IIT Madras graduate. He completed his post-graduation from the University of Maryland, according to his LinkedIn profile.
* Mr Davuluri began his career at Microsoft as a Reliability Component Manager in 2001.
* Mr Davuluri has held various leadership positions over his 23-year tenure at Microsoft, working across PC and Xbox hardware, Surface, and Windows.
* Pavan Davuluri took on the role of corporate vice president for Windows and Silicon & Systems Integration in 2021, overseeing efforts to optimise Windows for Arm-based devices.
* Mr Davuluri was recently assigned to lead Windows engineering alongside his existing responsibilities in Microsoft's hardware endeavours. He will lead a dedicated team developing silicon systems for Microsoft's Windows and Surface products..
Source :
The Verge
