Microsoft brings Windows and Surface under one command again

The unexpected departure of Panos Panay forced Microsoft to split its Windows and Surface division into two separate branches last September. The latter are regrouping today, under the aegis of a single leader that we already know: Pavan Davuluri.

It’s official, Microsoft is once again changing its tune regarding its two-headed Windows and Surface division. After the surprise departure of Panos Panay last year, for the benefit of Amazon, the Redmond giant had split this crucial part of its activity into two distinct entities, entrusted to two “ executives ” different.

Mikhail Parakhin thus took command of a team focused on Windows and Microsoft’s Web experiences; while Pavan Davuluri was entrusted with the management of the Surface branch as a whole. We learned this week that the Windows and Surface division is reforming, more or less as we knew it last year, and that Pavan Davuluri is taking over – Mikhail Parakhin having decided to “ explore new opportunities », potentially outside the company.

A strategic grouping in the age of AI?

“ This will allow us to take a holistic approach to developing chips, systems, experiences and devices that span the Windows client and cloud for this AI era “, commented Rajesh Jha, executive vice president of the division ” Experiences and Devices » from Microsoft, in an internal memo that The Verge was able to consult.

In Microsoft’s updated organizational chart, Pavan Davuluri is now head of the Windows and Surface division, reporting directly to Rajesh Jha. With his 23 years of seniority at Microsoft, Davuluri therefore obtains a central role within the group. In the past, the person was particularly noted for his involvement in the development of processors in partnership with AMD and Qualcomm for Surface devices.

Note that this reorganization comes shortly after the arrival at Microsoft of Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of Google DeepMind and the start-up Inflection AI. The latter was bombarded as head of “Microsoft AI”, the new Microsoft division dedicated to AI. This branch of the company has also recruited numerous ex-employees of Inflection AI to form a team of choice which should work closely with the workforce of Pavan Davuluri.