Microsoft has appointed Pavan Davuluri as the new Windows and Surface chief, following the reorganization of its leadership structure. This move comes after the departure of Panos Panay, who left for Amazon last year, prompting Microsoft to split the Windows and Surface groups under two different leaders. Davuluri, who previously oversaw the Surface silicon and devices work, will now be responsible for both Windows and Surface, as Mikhail Parakhin, the previous leader of a new team focused on Windows and web experiences, has decided to explore new roles.
Rajesh Jha, Microsoft’s head of experiences and devices, shared an internal memo outlining the new Windows organization, which brings together the Windows and devices teams once more. The reorganization aims to take a holistic approach to building silicon, systems, experiences, and devices that span Windows client and cloud for the AI era.
Pavan Davuluri, who has been with Microsoft for over 23 years, will now report directly to Rajesh Jha. He played a significant role in the company’s collaboration with Qualcomm and AMD to develop custom Surface processors.
Meanwhile, Mikhail Parakhin will report to Kevin Scott during a transition phase, raising uncertainty about his future at Microsoft. Parakhin had been involved in Bing Chat before taking on broader Windows engineering responsibilities and changes to Microsoft Edge.
This leadership change in the Windows team coincides with the recent appointment of Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of Google DeepMind and former Inflection AI CEO, as the CEO of a new AI team at Microsoft. Suleyman will oversee the company’s consumer-facing AI products, reporting directly to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. This move suggests a strategic focus on AI development within Microsoft, with implications for the alignment of the Windows and AI teams.
