Big changes at Microsoft as longtime executive Pavan Davuluri is named to lead the combined Windows and Surface teams after Panos Panay’s exit.
Microsoft has named Pavan Davuluri as the new head of its combined Windows and Surface teams. The move comes after previous leader Panos Panay’s surprise departure to Amazon last year.
Davuluri, a 23-year Microsoft veteran, will now oversee all aspects of Windows client and cloud experiences as well as Surface hardware development. He takes over from Mikhail Parakhin, who had been leading the Windows and web experiences group but is now “exploring new roles” outside the company.
The shakeup consolidates Microsoft’s operating system and devices efforts under one leader for the first time since Panay’s exit. In an internal memo, Microsoft’s Rajesh Jha cited the need for a “holistic approach to building silicon, systems, experiences, and devices…for this AI era” as the driving force behind the move.
An IIT Madras and University of Maryland graduate, Davuluri has held various leadership roles at Microsoft spanning PC, Xbox, Surface, and Windows. Most recently, he oversaw efforts to optimise Windows for Arm-based processors as corporate vice president of Windows and Silicon & Systems Integration.
The reorganisation paves the way for closer collaboration between the Windows group and Microsoft’s newly formed AI team led by DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman. Hired just days ago, Suleyman now heads consumer AI initiatives like Copilot, Bing, and Edge browser.
The personnel shifts come as Microsoft doubles down on AI under CEO Satya Nadella. The company recently acquired talent from Inflection AI, including Karén Simonyan as chief AI scientist. With AI increasingly central to Microsoft’s strategy, unified leadership over key product groups like Windows becomes critical.
For long-time Microsoft hand Davuluri, the new role caps a tenure spanning over two decades and multiple breakthrough projects like driving Arm chip adoption for Windows PCs. Now he faces the formidable task of steering Windows into an AI-driven future.
Source:indianexpress.com