Microsoft’s diversity chief leaves, company shakes up HR

Microsoft chief diversity officer Lindsay-Rae McIntyre is the latest executive to leave the software company as it enacts human resources changes to capitalize on growing artificial intelligence demand.

McIntyre will leave at the end of March to become a chief people officer at another organization next month, Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s executive vice president and chief people officer, told employees in a memo published by Business Insider on Wednesday.

A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the legitimacy of the memo to CNBC.

The company is going through an “AI-powered transformation,” wrote Coleman, who took on her role last year. Microsoft did not immediately have a comment on what the AI transformation entails for its HR group.

Several executives have left Microsoft in recent months, including gaming leader Phil Spencer and productivity software head Rajesh Jha. Security executive Charlie Bell became an individual contributor in February.

Software stocks have come under pressure as concerns mount about competition from products assembled with generative AI models. Microsoft shares are down 23% so far in 2026. The company has been allocating more capital to data center infrastructure, including Nvidia graphics chips that can run AI models, and focusing more on constructing top-tier AI models.

The company is working to show a return on the investment.

In January, CEO Satya Nadella touted 15 million seats for its Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on for commercial productivity software subscriptions, representing 3% of the base of total Microsoft 365 commercial seats.

At the same time, hiring top talent and building tools that satisfy employees is becoming more important.

“As technology and the way we work at Microsoft continue to evolve, we are transforming our people function so Microsoft remains a place where our employees can do their best work,” a spokesperson said in an email to CNBC. “The organizational updates we are making today align closely to our business priorities, and help us work more closely across teams, move faster, and simplify how we operate in support of our employees and customers.”

Microsoft’s engineering HR teams will come together under corporate vice president Mel Simpson, Coleman wrote.

“Talent strategy is competitive strategy and our ability to win depends on whether we can hire the very best talent at a moment when competition is intense and accelerating,” she wrote.

Microsoft is close to hiring someone to run talent acquisition and report directly to her, according to the memo.

As McIntyre departs, Microsoft will still have Diana Navas-Rosette working as its general manager of culture and inclusion. Navas-Rosette will report to Leslie Lawson Sims, who will lead a new people and culture team containing two existing groups, Coleman said.

Microsoft’s people analytics team will become part of the company’s employee experience unit under Corporate Vice President Nathalie D’Hers, Coleman wrote.

Hers’ group “have driven clarity, speed, and alignment while enabling our function to lead the next phase of AI-powered transformation across the company,” Coleman wrote.

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