Microsoft recently announced a reorganization of its Windows engineering team, integrating client and server teams into a unified organization. In an internal memo, Pavan Davuluri, the new president of the Windows and Devices division, pointed out that this adjustment aims to concentrate resources and advance the company's AI operating system strategy.
As the restructuring is implemented, the leaders of teams responsible for the core operating system, data intelligence and foundational technologies, security, and engineering systems will report directly to Davuluri. This reorganization marks the first time that the engineering work for Windows will be managed by a single department, rather than being shared with the Microsoft Azure team as it was before.
Notably, in 2018, Microsoft had split the Windows business into two teams. After Terry Myerson, the then-head of the department, left, the core team of the Windows platform was transferred to the Azure department. Later, Windows client-related operations were assigned to a newly created "Experience and Devices" team. Although in 2020, Panos Panay, the former head of the Windows and Surface division, reclaimed some of the teams, the core engineering team of Windows and employees responsible for releasing software such as Windows 11 still belonged to different departments.
After this restructuring, the underlying components of Windows will still be maintained by the Azure team, but the core business of the operating system is now under the management of a single leader. In his memo, Davuluri mentioned that future collaboration with the Azure team will continue in areas such as storage, networking, and security, while also relying on the core kernel, virtualization, and Linux teams for chip compatibility and the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).
As Microsoft places increasing emphasis on using AI features to comprehensively revamp the operating system, the reorganization of the Windows team has placed more responsibilities on Davuluri. He stated that this reorganization will help realize the vision of an "Agentic OS." Recently, Microsoft launched the "Windows AI Labs" project, aiming to test some experimental artificial intelligence features in the Windows 11 system. Additionally, Microsoft has added a series of AI features to Windows 11, including the Copilot Vision tool and AI-driven settings agents.
Key Points:
🌐 Microsoft reorganizes the Windows team, integrating client and server teams into a single organization to improve operational efficiency.
🤖 The new president, Davuluri, promises to promote the development of an AI operating system, focusing on the vision of an agentic operating system.
🛠️ The Windows AI Labs project is now live, testing new features, and Microsoft will continue to strengthen its collaboration with the Azure team.