Microsoft is moving its communications team out of marketing and into the Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs organization. Responsibility for communications goes to Vice Chair Brad Smith, while Brent Colburn has been named interim replacement for Frank Shaw, who will depart later this year.
Microsoft is moving its communications group out of the marketing division and into the Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs (CELA) organization. According to the company's announcement, responsibility for communications activities will be handed to Brad Smith, Microsoft's vice chair and president.
The company is searching for a permanent replacement for Chief Communications Officer Frank Shaw, who will be leaving his role later this year. In an internal memo announcing the change, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella thanked Shaw "for everything he has done for Microsoft."
According to the source, Shaw announced earlier this month that he would be departing Microsoft after supporting the company's communications efforts for nearly three decades.
An Interim Name for the Transition Period
Brent Colburn, vice president of global public affairs, has been appointed as interim communications leader during the transition. Nadella said he made the appointment to help navigate what he described as an "increasingly fragmented and noisier media environment than ever before."
Nadella also expressed excitement about "the opportunity to help our engineers, sales teams, partners, and others closest to our products and customers become a bigger part of how we tell our story."
According to the source, this approach resembles how AI startups operate, where researchers run demos and blogs at companies like OpenAI and Anthropic. According to Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft's AI division, the company is chasing Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI with the goal of "being one of the top four labs in the world." In an interview earlier this year, Suleyman said he wanted Microsoft to "build the world's best frontier models."
Brad Smith's Role
Brad Smith, who is taking over communications responsibility from Chief Marketing Officer Takeshi Numoto, frequently stands out as the company's public face in Microsoft's policy and corporate communications. Smith travels the world to meet with governments, regulators, and Microsoft customers.
It remains unclear who will permanently succeed Shaw later this year. The company is said to be evaluating both internal and external candidates.
Nadella's Internal Memo
In his memo to employees, Nadella emphasized that communications has become more important to Microsoft than ever. Noting that the company, the industry, and the world are changing, Nadella drew attention to the need to stay committed to the mission in a fragmented and noisy media environment, to earn trust every day, and to find new ways to connect directly with all stakeholders.
Opening his memo by thanking Frank Shaw, Nadella noted that Shaw has made tremendous contributions to the company and the communications function over the past 17-plus years, and has been an important source of counsel to the leadership team and to him during the company's most critical periods.
Nadella stated that he wants Brad Smith to lead the communications function going forward, saying, "Few leaders represent Microsoft's voice as authentically as Brad." According to Nadella, Smith brings a deep understanding of the business, a strong connection with stakeholders, and a rare ability to convey complex ideas with clarity, conviction, and confidence.
It was noted that during the transition, Brent Colburn will continue to report to Brad Smith and serve as interim communications leader. The communications leadership team will report to Colburn; Frank Shaw will continue to advise Smith and Colburn during the transition.
Arguing that those closest to the work have the best opportunity to shape how Microsoft is understood, Nadella said employees across the company need to be given the tools and support to do this well. He added that a shared strategy and set of principles will guide efforts to help engineers, sales teams, partners, and other employees closest to customers become a bigger part of how the company tells its story.
The memo also noted that this fall will bring important moments and events, with strong marketing support behind them. Nadella said this is a real opportunity to bring product storytelling, marketing, and communications together in new ways.
Nadella concluded his memo by saying, "We will learn, we will experiment, and we will evolve. There is a fundamentally new way of thinking about communications, and it will play a central role in building this team."
