Prior to the Microsoft Event, their Chief Product Officer Panos Panay is moving out of Hardware and into Windows OS Design & Functionality
Microsoft’s its chief product officer, Panos Panay, that was behind some of Microsoft’s best hardware designs such as Surface Studio desktop and Surface Book with detachable display in an effort to out innovate Apple is leaving his hardware post.
Panos Panay will stay long enough to help his replacements transition into the role, Rajesh Jha, executive vice president of the experiences and devices group, announced in an email to employees on Monday.
Pavan Davuluri is being tapped to oversee operating systems, devices and chips related to desktop clients, cloud and artificial intelligence. Yusuf Mehdi will work with computer-maker and retail partnerships, Jha said.
“Thank you, Panos, for your impact on our products, culture, company, and industry over the past two decades,” Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said in a statement, adding that the company will “remain steadfast and convicted in our strategy.”
Panay will now be responsible for Windows client -- the design and functionality that users see -- reporting to executive VP Rajesh Jha, as part of a broader reorg in that group. Panay is essentially taking over for Joe Befiore, who will move to the Office group after taking a sabbatical.
The announcement comes just days before Microsoft’s Sept. 21 event. Whether Microsoft will continue to push new hardware or better support their computer making partners is unknown at this time and we may get a better sense of this at their Thursday’s event.
Update 2 AM PST: BNN Bloomberg reports that Amazon is hiring Microsoft's Panos Panay to run the division responsible for the Alexa assistant and hardware. Panay state on a Twitter post: I'm “forever grateful for my time at Microsoft and the amazing people I had the honor to make products with.” This likely confirms that he's departing Microsoft and not moving to the Windows team as the initial rumor suggested.
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