Panos Panay will lead the Windows Experience in addition to Microsoft's hardware efforts

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What you need to know

Microsoft will reorganize several parts of its structure and leadership team over the next month.
Panos Panay will lead the Devices + Windows team, a combination of the Windows Experience (client) and the Microsoft hardware teams.
Microsoft often reorganizes leadership roles and team structures in the first quarter of the year.

Microsoft will mix things up in a reorganization over the next month. Mary Jo Foley reports through ZDNet on the upcoming changes. The most significant news is that Chief Product Officer Panos Panay will lead the Devices + Windows team, which will be a combination of the current Windows Experience (client) and Microsoft hardware teams. Foley reports that the Devices + Windows team will report to Panay and that the change will take effect on February 25, 2020.

The current head of the Windows Experience business, Joe Belfiore, will move over to the Office team at Microsoft. Belfiore and Ales Holecek will lead the Office Experience Group (OXO) team as a product/engineering team, according to Foley. Belfiore will also continue to lead the Essential Products Inclusive Community, which includes Microsoft News and Microsoft's apps on iOS and Android. Belfiore will not start his new role until this Fall because his family is doing another "Semester at Sea."

The newly formed Devices + Windows team still falls under the leadership of Rajesh Jha, who is on the Microsoft Senior Leadership team. While Panay gains more responsibility with this move, he will not join the Microsoft Senior Leadership team, according to Foley.

In addition to the changes regarding Windows and devices, there are several other notable changes that have already happened or that will take place soon. Corporate Vice President Brian Macdonald will retire from the industry. Macdonald currently runs the Microsoft Teams Business. He will continue to consult part-time with Jha. Corporate Vice President Jeff Teper will lead Teams as well as OneDrive and SharePoint. Kirk Koenigsbauer will become Jha's Chief Operating Officer. Koenigsbauer is currently Corporate Vice President of Microsoft 365.

Sean Endicott is a news writer and apps editor for Windows Central with 11+ years of experience. A Nottingham Trent journalism graduate, Sean has covered the industry’s arc from the Lumia era to the launch of Windows 11 and generative AI. Having started at Thrifter, he uses his expertise in price tracking to help readers find genuine hardware value.

Beyond tech news, Sean is a UK sports media pioneer. In 2017, he became one of the first to stream via smartphone and is an expert in AP Capture systems. A tech-forward coach, he was named 2024 BAFA Youth Coach of the Year. He is focused on using technology—from AI to Clipchamp—to gain a practical edge.