Microsoft is making a major leadership change to strengthen its commercial arm and sharpen its focus on artificial intelligence.
Judson Althoff, the company’s Chief Commercial Officer since 2016, will now serve as CEO of Microsoft’s commercial business. He will oversee sales, marketing, and operations. This frees up Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s overall CEO, to dedicate more time to the company’s technical work, including AI research, data centers, and product innovation.
Nadella described the shift as part of a larger transformation.
“This will allow our engineering leaders and me to be laser focused on our highest ambition technical work—across our datacenter buildout, systems architecture, AI science, and product innovation,” he wrote in a recent blog post.
A New Commercial Structure
Althoff will lead a new commercial leadership team that unites executives from engineering, sales, marketing, operations, and finance. The goal is to connect customer needs more directly to Microsoft’s delivery and support.
He has been central to Microsoft’s commercial growth for years. After joining in 2013 as president of Microsoft North America, he later built Microsoft Customer and Partner Solutions (MCAPS) into a core business driver. His new role puts him in charge of how Microsoft earns revenue from its enterprise customers, including Azure cloud and AI-powered services.
Nadella framed the change as more than a structural adjustment:
“This isn’t just evolution, it’s reinvention — for each of us professionally and for Microsoft.”
Focus on the AI Race
The reorganization comes as Microsoft pushes harder to lead the global AI market. Last month, the company merged its separate AI marketplaces into a single hub called Microsoft Marketplace. The move makes it easier for businesses and developers to find and use Microsoft’s AI tools.
Nadella said the company must help customers combine their human expertise with new AI capabilities. He pointed out that technologies like AI often drive leaps in productivity and growth, and that Microsoft has a “unique opportunity” to guide that change.
Growing Use of CEO Titles
Microsoft has started giving CEO titles to the heads of its largest businesses. Phil Spencer serves as CEO of Microsoft Gaming, and Mustafa Suleyman leads Microsoft AI. LinkedIn and GitHub also had CEOs after being acquired. Althoff’s new title continues that trend.
The move does not suggest Nadella is stepping back. Instead, it allows him to stay focused on technical innovation while Althoff takes charge of scaling the commercial side.
What’s Next
Nadella stressed that Microsoft must excel on two fronts: running its large commercial business today and building the technologies of tomorrow.
Althoff will concentrate on bringing sales, marketing, and operations closer together, ensuring customers adopt Microsoft’s AI and cloud services with ease. Nadella and the company’s engineering leaders will push forward with data centers, systems design, and AI breakthroughs.
The new structure reflects Microsoft’s strategy in the AI era: deliver now, and invent the future.
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