Heralding a new era for Xbox, Microsoft Gaming announced a major shake-up in its top leadership ranks. As per the latest revelation, the company’s CoreAI head of product development Asha Sharma has been tapped to take on lead as Phil Spence’s successor following his exit from the longtime role as the Microsoft Gaming CEO.
Chairman-CEO Satya Nadella and members of his executive team shared the big news with employees on Friday (US time), as also reflected in formal announcement published online on the Microsoft Corporate Blogs.
Satya Nadella welcomes new Microsoft Gaming EVP-CEO Asha Sharma
Celebrating Xbox’s 25th year, Nadella especially pointed out why he was “long on gaming and its role at the centre of our consumer ambition.”
“Today we reach over 500 million monthly active users, are a top publisher across all platforms, and continue to innovate across gaming hardware, content, and community, in service of creators and players everywhere,” Nadella said as per the Microsoft Blog.
Announcing Asha Sharma as the new Executive Vice President and CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Nadella confirmed that she would be reporting directly to him.
Detailing her expertise, he continued, “Over the last two years at Microsoft, and previously as Chief Operating Officer at Instacart and a Vice President at Meta, Asha has helped build and scale services that reach billions of people and support thriving consumer and developer ecosystems. She brings deep experience building and growing platforms, aligning business models to long-term value, and operating at global scale, which will be critical in leading our gaming business into its next era of growth.”
Alongside the update on Sharma’s big promotion, Nadella also revealed that Matt Booty would be stepping up as Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer, reporting to Asha. “Together, Asha and Matt have the right combination of consumer product leadership and gaming depth to push our platform innovation and content pipeline forward,” Nadella added.
He then shed light on Phil Spencer’s Microsoft legacy, noting that the longtime leader formally decided to retire from the company last year. “I want to thank Phil for his extraordinary leadership and partnership,” Nadella told Microsoft employees. “Over 38 years at Microsoft, including 12 years leading Gaming, Phil helped transform what we do and how we do it. He expanded our reach across PC, mobile, and cloud; nearly tripled the size of the business; helped shape our strategy through the acquisitions of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax, and Minecraft; and strengthened our culture across our studios and platforms.”
Praising Spencer’s work ethic and contributions to the company, Nadella affirmed that the former Microsoft Gaming CEO will continue working closely with his Indian-origin successor Asha Sharma to ensure a smooth transition.
Asha Sharma statement after Microsoft Gaming CEO promotion
Following her groundbreaking promotion, Sharma said, “I feel two things at once: humility and urgency,” as she began her role as the team CEO. Thanking Phil Spencer for his leadership and the foundation he’s created over the years, she said her job will primarily revolve around three commitments: Great games, the return of Xbox and future of play.
“As monetization and AI evolve and influence this future, we will not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop,” she said, as per Microsoft Blogs. “Games are and always will be art, crafted by humans, and created with the most innovative More provided by us.”
“The next 25 years belong to the teams who dare to build something surprising, something no one else is willing to try, and have the patience to see it through. We have done this before, and I am here to help us do it again. I want to return to the renegade spirit that built Xbox in the first place. It will require us to relentlessly question everything, revisit processes, protect what works, and be brave enough to change what does not.”
More about Xbox CEO Asha Sharma
According to her official LinkedIn profile, Sharma first took on the role of CoreAI Product President in 2024, as she led the product portfolio for AI models, apps, agents, responsible AI, and developer tools for customers worldwide.
In addition to her Microsoft career, she also serves as a Board Member at The Home Depot and South Korean e-commerce company Coupang. Prior to these roles, she held the following professional titles: Instacart COO, VP Product & Engineering at Meta, Porch Group COO and even had a stint in Microsoft’s Marketing team from 2011 to 2013.
Sharma got her Bachelor of Science degree in Business from University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.