Microsoft Creates New AI Engineering Division, Taps Facebook Veteran Parikh

Microsoft has appointed Jay Parikh, a former Facebook infrastructure expert, as executive vice president of its new AI engineering division, reports Bloomberg. Parikh, who joined Microsoft last fall, will report to CEO Satya Nadella and oversee several key AI-related groups.

Parikh's new role involves leading teams responsible for the company's developer division, AI platform, AI supercomputers, and AI agents. The creation of this new division underscores Microsoft's commitment to AI and its efforts to develop powerful AI tools and infrastructure.

"As we begin the new year, it's clear that we're entering the next innings of this AI platform shift," Nadella wrote in an email to employees announcing the changes. "Thirty years of change is being compressed into three years!"

Microsoft's AI ambitions are substantial, with the company focused on integrating AI across its entire product line. The company is making significant investments in data centers and chips to support these efforts, particularly in generative AI, driven by its partnership with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT.

Parikh brings extensive experience in technical infrastructure and data center projects from his more than a decade at Facebook (now Meta). He played a key role in the construction of over a dozen data centers globally, a crucial area of investment for Meta as a company capable of building cutting-edge server farms at scale.

Beyond data centers, Parikh also oversaw other significant technical projects at Meta, including efforts in subsea cables and the ill-fated Aquila drone project aimed at providing wireless internet to rural areas in the US.