IIT Madras Alumnus Pavan Davuluri Appointed New Chief of Microsoft Windows And Surface

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New Delhi: Microsoft has appointed Pavan Davuluri as the new chief of both Windows and Surface divisions following the departure of Panos Panay to Amazon last year. Microsoft had split the Windows and Surface groups, each under separate leadership. 

Davuluri, with over 23 years at Microsoft, previously managed Surface silicon and devices, while a new team, led by Mikhail Parakhin, focused on Windows and web experiences. Davuluri was deeply involved in the company’s work with Qualcomm and AMD to create custom Surface processors.

Davuluri started his Microsoft stint back in 2001 as a Reliability Component Manager, and by 2005 he was the General Manager of the Surface team, as per his LinkedIn profile. His promotion to Corporate Vice President of the Windows + Devices team in October 2023 underscores Microsoft's strategic leadership changes.

Pavan Davuluri has an Indian connection. He graduated from the prestigious IIT Madras. With this new job role, Pavan Davuluri becomes part of a group of Indian leaders in tech companies in the US, just like Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella, among others. 

To recall, Microsoft made a significant move by hiring Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of Google's DeepMind, to lead the AI division. Adding further, Nadella acquired Inflection AI and its team, which will collaborate on developing new AI tools alongside the company's partnership with OpenAI.

In an internal memo from Rajesh Jha, obtained by the Verge, the reorganization of the Windows division was outlined. With Jordi Ribas leading Search, Maps, and Platforms, Rukmini Iyer leading Advertising, and Mike Davidson overseeing Design, collaborating with Pavan on Windows design realignment. Ali Akgun, Kya Sainsbury-Carter, Qi Zhang, and Rajesh Sundaram join the Microsoft AI leadership team, reporting to Mustafa.