Microsoft Gaming, which draws more than 500 million monthly active users, has a new leader. Satya Nadella announced the appointment of Asha Sharma as executive vice president and CEO on the company’s corporate blog. She reports directly to Nadella and steps in after Phil Spencer retires. Spencer had headed the division since 2014. The move follows Xbox President Sarah Bond’s recent departure from Microsoft.

Sharma joined Microsoft in 2024 after stints as chief operating officer at Instacart and vice president at Meta Platforms. Most recently, she served as president of Microsoft’s CoreAI product division. Nadella praised her track record in his blog post. “Over the last two years at Microsoft, and previously at Instacart and Meta, Asha has helped build and scale services that reach billions of people,” he wrote. He highlighted her skills in platform growth, business alignment and global operations as key for gaming’s next phase.

A Carlson School of Management graduate with a Bachelor of Science in business, Sharma held product leadership roles at Meta. She scaled operations at Instacart and sits on the boards of Home Depot and Coupang. Sharma views gaming as a blend of art and technology. She told reporters it empowers creators to test hardware and software limits worldwide.

The appointment comes as Microsoft Gaming nears its 25th anniversary this autumn. Sharma plans to merge Spencer’s strategic vision with fresh AI innovations. Matt Booty, head of Microsoft’s gaming studios, will report to her as executive vice president and chief content officer. Nadella said the pair offers ideal consumer product leadership and gaming know-how to boost platform advances and content development.

Sharma has driven AI projects like Foundry, a platform that embeds AI models into third-party apps, according to a CNBC report. She pledged Microsoft’s renewed focus on console gaming. The original Xbox launched in 2001, she noted. Industry watchers eye Xbox performance against rivals Sony and Nintendo.

Spencer retires after steering major deals and expansions. Bond’s exit adds to recent leadership shifts at the gaming unit. Microsoft positions gaming central to its consumer strategy. Nadella called himself “long on gaming” in the announcement.