Microsoft Will Undergo Big Reorganization, Longtime Windows Chief To Depart

Microsoft Corporation MSFT rose slightly Thursday after it was announced the company will reorganize into two engineering divisions.

What Happened

One division will be focused on experiences and devices and the other exploring cloud and artificial intelligence platforms.

A new “AI and Ethics in Engineering and Research” committee will serve to check the divisions’ progress.

Why It’s Important

In an email to staff, CEO Satya Nadella said the new structure will accelerate innovation and ensure broad access to next-generation technologies.

Parallel investments in tools to detect and address bias in AI systems and adapt to new GDPR requirements might also serve to Microsoft’s benefit as consumer confidence in tech companies dwindles.

What’s Next

The transition will see the departure of Terry Myerson, executive vice president for the windows and devices group. Rajesh Jha, EVP for the product group, will now head experiences and devices.

“Computing experiences are evolving to include multiple senses and are no longer bound to one device at a time but increasingly spanning many as we move from home to work and on the go,” Nadella wrote. “These modern needs, habits and expectations of our customers are motivating us to bring Windows, Office, and third-party applications and devices into a more cohesive Microsoft 365 experience.”

Scott Guthrie, current cloud and enterprise EVP, will lead the cloud and AI division.

“The purpose of this team is to drive platform coherence and compelling value across all layers of the tech stack starting with the distributed computing fabric (cloud and edge) to AI (infrastructure, runtimes, frameworks, tools and higher-level services around perception, knowledge and cognition),” Nadella wrote.

The firm will more deeply discuss the changes at a Q&A next week.

At time of publication, the stock traded around $89.78.

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