Veteran Microsoft executive Julia Liuson is stepping down after 34 years with the company. Liuson, who headed Microsoft’s developer division (DevDiv), has been leading the developer business for the past 12 years, during which Microsoft acquired GitHub for $7.5 billion and focused more on open-source projects.
Liuson will continue as head of DevDiv until the end of June, after which she’ll transition to an advisory role under Microsoft CoreAI chief Jay Parikh, according to an internal memo obtained by The Verge. It is unclear who will succeed Liuson or if the DevDiv team will report to Parikh moving forward.
Liuson stated in her memo, “I’ve been contemplating this for a while, and in January I told Satya [Nadella] and Jay [Parikh] the timing feels right for me to make this change. I am proud that DevDiv is known for its customer-centric approach and product reliability.”
Her exit follows the resignation of former GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke less than a year ago. After Dohmke’s departure, GitHub’s leadership team reported to Microsoft’s CoreAI team, with Liuson overseeing revenue, engineering, and support.
Liuson’s departure is the latest in a series of executive exits at Microsoft. Earlier, Xbox chief Phil Spencer and Xbox president Sarah Bond announced their resignations. Rajesh Jha, head of experiences and devices, retired last month after 35 years, prompting a reorganization of Microsoft’s upper management. This led to division leaders reporting directly to CEO Satya Nadella and a new appointment for the Copilot boss, with Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman concentrating on AI models rather than assistant features for consumers.