USA (Commonwealth Union) — Microsoft has named Indian-origin executive Asha Sharma as the new Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of its Gaming division. She will succeed Phil Spencer, who is retiring after nearly 40 years with the company.
Announcing the leadership change, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella said he remains confident about the future of gaming and its importance to the company’s consumer strategy. He added that Sharma will report directly to him in her new role.
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Asha Sharma is a graduate of the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and brings close to 15 years of leadership experience across technology, product development, and operations. Her career has spanned several major global companies, where she has led large teams and managed complex businesses.
She first joined Microsoft in 2011, starting in marketing. After two years, she moved to Porch Group, where she served as Chief Operating Officer. There, she helped scale the company’s operations and played a key role in its $1 billion public listing.
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During her time at Porch Group, she oversaw product, engineering, sales, marketing, and operations, and also served as Chief Marketing Officer and a board member for several years. In 2017, Sharma joined Meta as Vice President of Product and Engineering. She led product teams across Messenger and Instagram Direct, managing calling, video, and youth-focused experiences. Earlier in her tenure, she directed social impact products aimed at expanding digital access and safety.
She later moved to Instacart as Chief Operating Officer.
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Over the next three years, she helped guide the grocery delivery platform toward profitability and its public offering. She managed a business portfolio with more than $30 billion in gross merchandise value and supervised teams across product, design, data science, marketing, operations, and customer support.
In 2024, Sharma returned to Microsoft as President of Core AI Product, where she led global teams responsible for artificial intelligence models, applications, developer tools, and responsible AI initiatives. Prior to that, she served as Corporate Vice President and Head of Product for the company’s AI platform.
Now, Sharma will oversee Microsoft Gaming, including the Xbox business. The division spans nearly 40 studios under Xbox, Bethesda, Activision Blizzard, and King, home to popular franchises such as Halo, Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush.
In a message to employees and gamers, Sharma emphasized the company’s commitment to its longtime Xbox community. She noted that gaming today extends beyond a single device and now connects players across multiple platforms and experiences.
