Microsoft Corp. mentioned its chief product officer is leaving, a major departure for the corporate’s {hardware} and Home windows divisions.
Panos Panay will keep lengthy sufficient to assist his replacements transition into the position, Rajesh Jha, government vice chairman of the experiences and units 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 position main the Floor laptop division and most not too long ago heading the Home windows unit. Pavan Davuluri is being tapped to supervise working methods, units and chips associated to desktop shoppers, cloud and synthetic intelligence. Yusuf Mehdi will work with computer-maker and retail partnerships, Jha mentioned.
“Thanks, Panos, to your affect on our merchandise, tradition, firm, and business over the previous twenty years,” Chief Govt 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 Floor 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 units attracted comparisons to Apple, because of glitzy launch occasions and a give attention to element and high-quality design.
Extra not too long ago, Microsoft has scaled again the Floor operation, axing personnel and slicing slow-selling merchandise. The corporate’s HoloLens mixed-reality goggles undertaking, overseen by Panay since 2022, has additionally struggled, thanks partly to a delayed US Military contract.
The corporate’s “dedication” to Floor and the mixed-reality enterprise “stays unchanged,” Jha wrote in his e-mail.
Davuluri, a 20-year Microsoft veteran, is a vice chairman in Home windows and Gadget engineering and has led silicon and methods integration. Mehdi has been at Microsoft for greater than 30 years and first got here to prominence as the pinnacle of promoting campaigns for Web Explorer within the Nineties. Extra not too long ago he has held roles at Xbox, Home windows and Bing.
