Microsoft Reorganizes: Shifts Core Focus from Windows to Cloud, AI

Tech giant Microsoft is putting Windows on the back burner, leaning into the cloud, CNN reported.

“Microsoft has been moving away from Windows and more towards the cloud, analytics and AI for the past ten years,” explained Laura DiDio, an analyst at ITIC. “This did not happen overnight.”

Moreover, it’s learnt that Terry Myerson, leader of the Windows and Devices Group, is leaving the company after his 21 years of service at the company. CEO, Satya Nadella, confirmed Myerson’s departure last week.

“Microsoft has been my work, my team, and my purpose for 21 years,” Myerson wrote in a LinkedIn blog post. “It’s an emotional day.” Mr Myerson was quoted on CNN.

Shortly after Myerson’s departure, the company formed two new engineering teams that will prioritize Microsoft’s cloud and artificial intelligence products.

DiDio said that the changes don’t mean that Microsoft is totally giving up on Windows. But they do mean that the CEO is focussing the company’s energies around stronger assets.

“They are de-emphasizing Windows,” she said, in order to become a stronger “player in cloud and artificial intelligence, because that’s where the money is.”

Amy Hood, Microsoft’s chief financial officer, said in January that the company’s investment in the cloud, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things has paid off. The company’s commercial cloud revenue grew 56 percent year-over-year, she added.