Tech firm Microsoft (MSFT) is making changes to its operations in order to compete better in the artificial intelligence market. Indeed, Judson Althoff, who was the company’s Chief Commercial Officer, is getting promoted to CEO of Microsoft’s Commercial Business, and will be taking charge of sales, marketing, and operations. This move will allow CEO Satya Nadella to shift more of his attention toward the technical side of the company, such as AI development and product innovation.
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Nadella explained in a blog post that this reorganization gives him and his top engineers the freedom to focus deeply on Microsoft’s most important technical work. This includes building more data centers, improving system designs, and advancing AI science. At the same time, Althoff will lead a new commercial leadership team made up of experts from different departments like engineering, sales, marketing, operations, and finance.
It is worth noting that Althoff has been with Microsoft since 2013 and has been leading a unified global sales and marketing team since 2021. Now with even more responsibility, he’ll help Microsoft grow both its current business and its AI projects. Interestingly, one recent step in that direction is the launch of “Microsoft Marketplace,” which combines two separate platforms for AI tools (one for developers using Azure and one for AI-powered apps and digital assistants) into a single marketplace to make things easier for business customers.
Is MSFT Stock a Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on MSFT stock based on 33 Buys and one Hold assigned in the last three months. In addition, the average MSFT price target of $627.95 per share implies 21.2% upside potential.
