Asha Sharma inherits limited options as Xbox’s new CEO

Microsoft’s patience with Xbox appears to have run out. Phil Spencer announced an abrupt retirement as CEO of Microsoft Gaming, and his second-in-command Sarah Bond quit. The role went to Asha Sharma, a career executive in tech and services who briefly led Microsoft’s CoreAI project; fans have noted her limited direct gaming experience even as the company points to her record building platforms, aligning business models and operating at global scale.

Sharma’s time at CoreAI was short and her AI background may be less consequential than it looks; her experience running Instacart’s mass-market, user-facing network seems more relevant to the task ahead. Pressure from Microsoft’s leadership to incorporate AI into Xbox products, however, is likely to persist regardless of who is in charge.

Much of Xbox’s current predicament predates Sharma. Spencer rebuilt Xbox after the Xbox One era and pushed hard on Game Pass and cloud streaming, aiming to make Xbox a Netflix-like platform for games.

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