Redmond, Washington – Microsoft Corp.’s Mikhail Parakhin, who has been leading the company’s Bing search engine and advertising businesses, is stepping down from those positions to explore new opportunities within the company. This decision comes shortly after Mustafa Suleyman was appointed to oversee consumer artificial intelligence efforts, with Parakhin now reporting to him.
Parakhin, formerly the CEO for advertising and web services, will now report to Chief Technology Officer Kevin Scott while he searches for his next role at Microsoft. He also previously managed parts of the company’s Windows software business, a responsibility that will now be transitioned to Pavan Davuluri. Davuluri, who had been overseeing hardware and the rest of Windows, will now lead all of Windows and Surface hardware, reporting to Executive Vice President Rajesh Jha, who announced these changes in a staff email on Monday.
The specifics of whether Parakhin will be leaving Microsoft entirely or moving into a different role within the company were not explicitly stated in the email or by a Microsoft spokesperson.
Parakhin’s departure from overseeing Microsoft’s consumer AI products is the first notable change following CEO Satya Nadella’s recent appointment of Suleyman to head the company’s unified efforts in the AI space. This move underlines Nadella’s eagerness to drive progress within his team, reflecting a push to enhance AI integration into various Microsoft products, including Bing search engine, Windows, and Office, along with the development of digital assistants like Copilot.
Despite Microsoft’s efforts to embed AI into its offerings, including Bing search engine and various products, the competition with search giant Google remains a challenge. The company continues to work on perfecting its AI-powered features, with the management restructuring signaling a strategic shift towards advancing Microsoft’s presence in the evolving AI landscape.
Reports on these management changes were initially covered by The Verge, shedding light on the internal shifts within Microsoft’s leadership team. This realignment follows a series of strategic moves by Microsoft to remain competitive and innovative in the technology sector, positioning the company for growth and success in the AI-driven future.