A few weeks ago, we learned that Microsoft and Xbox veteran Phil Spencer is retiring, alongside his second-in-command, Sarah Bond. Spencer had been at Microsoft for almost 38 years, and has been succeeded by Asha Sharma, a former Meta executive who is also the President of Microsoft"s CoreAI product. Now, yet another veteran has departed the company, as the organizational chart continues to change.
The latest notable executive to leave Redmond is Rajesh Jha, the Executive Vice President of the Experiences + Devices division. Jha will be retiring on July 1, 2026, after 35 years at the firm. Those reporting to him will begin reporting directly to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The executives who will begin reporting to Nadella rather than Jha from July include Perry Clarke, Charles Lamanna, Pavan Davuluri, and Ryan Roslansky.
For those unaware, Clarke is the President of Microsoft 365 Core, Lamanna is the President of Business & Industry Copilot, Davuluri leads the Windows and Surface teams, while Roslansky is the CEO of Microsoft-owned LinkedIn. As a part of this restructuring, Jeff Teper has also been promoted to EVP, and Sumit Chauhan and Kirk Koenigsbauer are now Presidents, too.
From now till the end of June, Jha will be forcused on transition plans, ownership of products, and "details on the future org structure". The goal is to hit the ground running with the start of the next fiscal year. Jha has also clarified that priorities around Microsoft"s Secure Future Initiative (SFI), Quality Engineering Initiative (QEI), and Copilot remain unchanged.
Nadella had a lot of positive things to say about Jha too, noting that:
Rajesh has been a constant throughout my entire life at Microsoft. From our earliest days working together, I have admired his unwavering commitment to his team, to our customers, to the products we build, and to the company. I have always been struck by his operational rigor, his ability to make the hard strategic calls, lead through the grind, and emerge stronger on the other side. That, to me, is what true leadership looks like.
Here at Neowin, we have been covering Rajesh Jha"s endeavors since at least 2006, when he was leading the Office Live initiative. He took over the newly formed Experiences + Devices group after Terry Myerson stepped down in 2018, which fragmented a bit in 2020 to have Panos Panay lead Windows initiatives. The division went through further restructuring after Panay abruptly gave in his resignation in 2023. Pavan Davuluri eventually took over the Windows and Surface hardware business in 2024, which is still how things stand right now, but with Jha"s exit in July, Davuluri will begin reporting directly to Nadella.