Xbox co-founder now leads mysterious 'ZeroOne' team at Amazon

Amazon has a new team that will focus on "breakthrough" consumer products, and that team will be led by the co-founder of Xbox. The ZeroOne team includes members based in Seattle, San Francisco, and Sunnyvale, California, according to CNBC, and works on both hardware and software.

J Allard is Vice President of ZeroOne, as listed on his LinkedIn profile. Allard has been with Amazon since September 2024, but we now know a bit more about his VP role.

ZeroOne sits within Amazon's Devices and Services team, which is led by former Microsoft Surface chief Panos Panay.

Amazon confirmed to CNBC that Allard oversees the ZeroOne team but did not share further information about what that team works on. This left outlets to read through job listings to glean information.

"You'll be part of a team that embraces design thinking, rapid experimentation, and building to learn," reads one Amazon listing.

"If you're excited about working in small, nimble teams to create entirely new product categories and thrive in the ambiguity of breakthrough innovation, we want to talk to you."

CNBC pieced together clues suggesting the ZeroOne team covers everything from coming up with concepts to product delivery.

Allard, who worked at Microsoft for 19 years, is best known for co-founding Xbox. He left the company in 2010. His final role at the tech giant was technology chief of consumer products.

During his time at Microsoft, Allard also worked on the Zune, Kin phone, and the Courier tablet. Allard will have some extra time to reminisce about the Courier tablet now that he works alongside Panay.

Panay, who left Microsoft due to major cutbacks on experimental devices, was passionate about the Courier concept. He’s now channeling that passion into Amazon’s product efforts.

Panay unveiled Alexa+ earlier this year and has said he wants “perfection in every single product that [Amazon ships].”

Amazon has several successful pieces of hardware, including its Kindle e-readers, Alexa-centered Echo smart speakers, and Fire streaming sticks. The company has also had several commercial failures, including the ill-fated Fire Phone.

Panay has a reputation for his attention to detail. It was always fun to study the small details in Surface hardware when Panay was in charge.

Amazon's Devices and Services team, which now includes Panay and Allard, is expected to polish the tech giant's hardware lineup.

“There won’t be a corner cut. It won’t matter if we tried it before. It won’t matter what you thought it used to be," said Panay in an interview earlier this year.

Amazon is also expected to introduce more cutting-edge products. I wouldn't be surprised to see Amazon push limits and be willing to take risks.