Xbox boss Phil Spencer is leaving, and a Microsoft AI exec is taking over with president Sarah Bond also resigning

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Phil Spencer has been with Microsoft since 1988

Phil Spencer
(Image credit: Xbox)

After nearly 40 years with Microsoft, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer is set to retire on Monday, February 23. Xbox's current president Sarah Bond will also resign, after joining the company in 2017.

Spencer will be replaced as CEO by Asha Sharma, IGN reports, who is currently serving as the product development lead and president of Microsoft's CoreAI product. Before working with Microsoft, Sharma was COO at Instacart, the grocery delivery service. She is also on the board of Home Depot.

In an email sent to Microsoft staff obtained by IGN, Spencer expresses his desire for "stepping back and starting the next chapter of my life," though he'll remain at Xbox "through the summer" as an advisor. He says about Sharma, "Working with her over the past several months has given me tremendous confidence. She brings genuine curiosity, clarity and a deep commitment to understanding players, creators, and the decisions that shape our future."

Matt Booty, current head of Xbox Game Studios, will move up to becoming executive vice president and chief content officer, reporting directly to Sharma. "As part of this transition, Sarah Bond has decided to leave Microsoft to begin a new chapter," Spencer says.

Ashley Bardhan
Ashley Bardhan
Senior Writer

Ashley is a Senior Writer at GamesRadar+. She's been a staff writer at Kotaku and Inverse, too, and she's written freelance pieces about horror and women in games for sites like Rolling Stone, Vulture, IGN, and Polygon. When she's not covering gaming news, she's usually working on expanding her doll collection while watching Saw movies one through 11.

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