Today, Microsoft is appointing Pavan Davuluri as the new leader for Windows and Surface. After Panos Panay left for Amazon unexpectedly last year, Microsoft divided the Windows and Surface teams. Davuluri took charge of Surface hardware and technology, while Mikhail Parakhin led a new team focusing on Windows and online experiences. Now, Davuluri will oversee both Windows and Surface, as Parakhin has decided to pursue other opportunities.
An internal memo from Rajesh Jha, Microsoft’s head of experiences and devices, reveals the new Windows organization. Microsoft is reuniting its Windows and devices teams to approach building hardware, software, and experiences together. This change aims to create cohesive products across Windows and the cloud in today’s AI-driven era.
Pavan Davuluri now leads Microsoft’s Windows and Surface team, reporting directly to Rajesh Jha. With over 23 years at Microsoft, Davuluri was heavily involved in collaborating with Qualcomm and AMD to develop custom Surface processors.
Mikhail Parakhin’s future at Microsoft is uncertain as he transitions to reporting to Kevin Scott. He previously worked on Bing Chat and contributed to changes in Microsoft Edge.
These changes follow Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of Google DeepMind and former CEO of Inflection AI, joining Microsoft to lead a new AI team. Microsoft also welcomed many Inflection AI employees, including co-founder Karén Simonyan, who now serves as the chief scientist for Microsoft AI.
Suleyman now heads Microsoft AI, which focuses on consumer-facing AI products like Copilot, Bing, and Edge. He reports directly to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Jha mentions close collaboration between the Windows and Microsoft AI teams on AI, silicon, and experiences, though potential overlaps in responsibilities will need to be addressed. Microsoft AI now oversees Edge, a key component of the Windows system.
