Microsoft (MS) appointed AI expert Asha Sharma as the head to lead its gaming division and Xbox.
MS said in a press release on the 20th (local time) that Phil Spencer, MS Gaming chief executive officer (CEO), who led Xbox's heyday for the past 38 years, is retiring, and that Asha Sharma, who served as president of product in the company's AI business institutional sector "Core AI," was named the new CEO.
The appointment is seen as reflecting a market trend in which AI technology is rapidly being applied to the gaming industry. Upon taking office, new CEO Sharma said, "I will work for the 'Return of Xbox,'" adding, "We will not pursue only short-term efficiency or flood the ecosystem with soulless AI content, but will create new business models and new ways to play games."
CEO Sharma is known within MS as an AI expert. Core AI, where Sharma served, is a unit newly established in Jan. last year to strengthen MS's AI capabilities and plays a key role in the group's "AI-first" strategy. Sharma recently demonstrated rapid execution by building an AI service for Azure in just a few days in response to China's DeepSeek model.
Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, was promoted to chief content officer (CCO) and will assist CEO Sharma.
With this appointment as a turning point, observers say MS will fully integrate AI technology across the board, from game development to user experience. In particular, as CEO Sharma emphasized the "Return of Xbox," the company is expected to boost Xbox's competitiveness with AI technology and strengthen its dominance in the traditional console market occupied by Sony and Nintendo.
MS CEO Satya Nadella said, "The gaming institutional sector will play a key role in MS's consumer strategy."