Microsoft names Pavan Davuluri as new windows chief

MICROSOFT has named Indian American Pavan Davuluri as the new head of its Windows and Surface divisions, The Verge reported on Monday (25).

Davuluri, an IIT Madras graduate, has been appointed to the position following Panos Panay's departure to Amazon.

His new role places him among the ranks of Indian leaders in tech companies in the US, alongside notable figures such as Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella, among others.

Davuluri used to manage Surface silicone projects while Mikhail Parakhin supervised the Windows division.

However, as Parakhin expressed a desire to pursue "new roles," Davuluri has assumed leadership for both Windows and Surface, reports said.

He will now report to Rajesh Jha, Microsoft’s head of experience and devices.

“As part of this change, we are bringing together the Windows Experiences and Windows + Devices teams as a core part of the Experiences + Devices (E+D) division. This will enable us to take a holistic approach to building silicon, systems, experiences, and devices that span Windows client and cloud for this AI era," Jha wrote in an internal letter.

"Pavan Davuluri will lead this team and continue to report to me. Shilpa Ranganathan and Jeff Johnson and their teams will report directly to Pavan. The Windows team will continue to work closely with the Microsoft AI team on AI, silicon, and experiences."

Davuluri joined Microsoft in 2001. He has been corporate vice president for almost three years.

Following his time at IIT Madras, he pursued a Master of Science degree at the University of Maryland in the US in 1999.

According to Davuluri's LinkedIn page, he has been a part of Microsoft since the very beginning of his career. He started as a Reliability Component Manager at the US tech giant.

Throughout his career journey, Davuluri has held various positions at Microsoft. He was involved in the company's collaboration with Qualcomm and AMD to create custom surface processors.