Microsoft doubles down on AI, taps Indian-origin Jay Parikh to lead new division

financialexpress.com:

Microsoft is doubling down on artificial intelligence. CEO Satya Nadella has announced the formation of CoreAI – Platform and Tools, a new engineering division to kick off Redmond’s “next innings” of AI platform shift with seasoned technology leader of Indian origin, Jay Parikh, in the lead.

Parikh’s appointment places him amongst Microsoft’s top brass. He will be reporting directly to CEO Nadella. He joined Microsoft in October 2024 without a formal title or role and so, this marks his first major role since he was brought in.

Jay Parikh is a renowned figure in the tech world, known for his extensive experience in managing large-scale engineering projects.

“From my earliest conversations with Satya, Microsoft’s commitment to leading the AI platform shift is absolutely clear. This shift is not only a tremendous opportunity but also incomprehensibly complex—both of these aspects are the perfect combination for what I’m drawn to,” Parikh had posted on LinkedIn after joining Microsoft.

He was vice president and global head of engineering for Facebook (now Meta) for more than a decade, from 2009 to 2021, before going on to lead the cloud security platform Lacework as its CEO. Prior to Meta, Parikh was VP engineering at Akamai Technologies.

Parikh will lead CoreAI – Platform and Tools, a new division formed by merging Microsoft’s existing developer division, AI platform teams, and parts of the Office of the CTO group including AI Supercomputer, AI Agentic Runtimes, and Engineering Thrive, per a blog post penned by Nadella himself.  

The division will oversee the development of end-to-end Copilot & AI stack for both of Microsoft’s first-party and third-party customers to build AI applications more efficiently in consonance