Microsoft shakes up leadership: LinkedIn CEO to oversee Office, Copilot

Microsoft's leadership reshuffle sees LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky take charge of Office, Word, Excel, and Copilot, reporting to Rajesh Jha

Microsoft is making significant changes to its leadership team, with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky taking on additional oversight of the company’s core Office products, including Word and Excel, as well as its flagship AI tool, Copilot.

 

According to an internal memo from CEO Satya Nadella shared with employees, the reshuffle aims to streamline leadership responsibilities and enhance focus on Microsoft’s key offerings, news agency Reuters reported.

 

Despite his new responsibilities, Roslansky will continue to serve as CEO of LinkedIn. Under the updated structure, he will now report directly to Rajesh Jha, who leads Microsoft’s Windows unit and is also responsible for overseeing Teams and other core services.

 

 

Other leadership changes

 

The memo also notes that Charles Lamanna, who currently leads Copilot for business and industrial users, will now report to Jha. Similarly, Sumit Chauhan and Gaurav Sareen — both key leaders within the Office division — will also begin reporting to Jha under the new structure.   

 

  This marks the second leadership reshuffle at Microsoft in just three months. Back in March, Nadella announced a significant change by appointing a new Chief People Officer (CPO) following Kathleen Hogan’s transition. Hogan, who had served as CPO since 2014, has since moved into a new role as Executive Vice-President of the Office of Strategy and Transformation, Business Insider reported.

 

Microsoft's free cybersecurity aid for Europe

 

Microsoft announced on Wednesday that it is offering a free cybersecurity programme to European governments to help bolster their defences against cyber threats, including those involving artificial intelligence, Reuters reported.

 

The initiative comes amid a notable increase in cyberattacks across Europe, many of which have been linked to state-backed actors from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. The programme is designed to enhance intelligence-sharing on AI-related threats and support efforts to prevent and disrupt attacks.

 

"If we can bring more to Europe of what we have developed in the United States, that will strengthen cybersecurity protection for more European institutions," Microsoft President Brad Smith told Reuters in an interview.

 

Smith also hinted at additional initiatives planned for later in the month, saying: "You're going to see other things we are doing later in the month."

 

Attackers are increasingly using generative AI to expand the scale and impact of their operations, from targeting critical infrastructure to disseminating disinformation. However, Smith emphasised that AI also offers significant defensive capabilities. "We don't feel that we have seen AI that has evaded our ability to detect the use of AI or the threats more broadly," Smith said.

 

Smith stressed the importance of ensuring that defensive AI progresses faster than offensive uses of the technology. "Our goal needs to be to keep AI advancing as a defensive tool faster than it advances as an offensive weapon," he said.

 

Microsoft has systems in place to monitor any malicious use of its AI models and restricts known cybercriminals from accessing its AI products.