Microsoft Moves: Longtime exec Julia Liuson to retire; new accessibility chief; and other changes

Big tech moves today from Microsoft: Longtime executive Julia Liuson is leaving, Neil Barnett is the company’s new chief accessibility officer, and Nanda Ramachandran has been named chief marketing officer for Windows & Devices.

They’re part of a broader wave of executive departures and changes at Microsoft as CEO Satya Nadella looks to flatten the company’s reporting structure and adjust to the new realities of AI in its product development and marketing.

— Liuson is departing after more than 34 years with the Redmond, Wash. tech giant, effective in June, multiple news outlets report.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Liuson has been president since 2021 of Microsoft’s Developer Division, which includes Microsoft Azure services for developers, Visual Studio and the .NET Framework. The division has evolved to integrate with GitHub, which the company acquired in 2018.

Liuson joined Microsoft in 1992 as a software design engineer after graduating from the University of Washington. A company biography states she was the first woman promoted to corporate vice president of development at Microsoft.

A company spokesperson called Liuson’s departure “a thoughtful, planned decision to retire from her full-time role and step into her next chapter,” adding that she will work full-time through June and then transition into an advisory role.

“We’re grateful for the impact Julia and the broader team have delivered for developers and customers, and we’re focused on maintaining momentum as we head into the next fiscal year and beyond. Our developer and AI strategy — and our commitment to customers — remain unchanged,” the spokesperson said.

Liuson will continue reporting to Microsoft CoreAI chief Jay Parikh in her advisory role, The Verge reported, citing an internal memo. A replacement for Liuson has not been publicly named.

Microsoft in recent years has been aggressively recruiting AI leaders from Google DeepMind, Allen Institute for AI, Meta and elsewhere to bolster its AI technologies. That includes Parikh, who joined in 2024 from Lacework and was previously at Meta.

— In his new role, Barnett will lead Microsoft’s accessibility efforts within its Corporate, External & Legal Affairs organization.

Barnett has been with the company since 2001 and 12 years ago became the leader of a team focused on online safety, privacy and accessibility support.

He succeeds Jenny Lay-Flurrie in the role.

“Neil brings a rare combination of unwavering advocacy, strong operational and people leadership combined with clarity, conviction, and purpose,” Lay-Flurrie said on LinkedIn. Over the past decade, he built and scaled the company’s neurodiversity program and Disability Answer Desk, which has supported more than two million customers.

— Lay-Flurrie, who has been with Microsoft for more than 21 years, moved into her new role in February as head of the Trusted Technology Group. This division addresses accessibility, digital safety, privacy, responsible AI, enterprise resilience, and responsible business practices. (See additional GeekWire coverage of Lay-Flurrie’s new role.)

— Ramachandran joins Microsoft from Google, where for the past 12 years he was vice president of Pixel Business, which includes phones, tablets, laptops and other devices. Ramachandran is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and previously held leadership roles at Samsung Mobile and Motorola.

As the new CMO of Windows & Devices, he shared his excitement to build hardware including Microsoft’s Surface computers and growing Windows.

“We are transitioning into the next phase of computing, and helping steer Windows and our devices into the era of the agentic OS is an incredible opportunity,” he said on LinkedIn.