Asha Sharma

Asha Sharma is the Chief Executive Officer of XBOX (formerly Microsoft Gaming), a role she assumed on February 20, 2026, succeeding Phil Spencer. She leads the company’s gaming hardware, software, content, and platform strategy, reporting directly to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Born in 1989 in Racine, Wisconsin, Sharma earned a BS in Business from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota in 2011. She began her career as a teenager at S.C. Johnson and later joined Microsoft’s marketing department from 2011 to 2013. After leaving Microsoft, she served as Chief Operating Officer of Porch from 2013 to 2017, then moved to Facebook (Meta) as Vice President of Product & Engineering for Messenger and Instagram Direct from 2017 to 2021. Sharma was COO of Instacart from June 2021 to early 2024, overseeing operations through the company’s IPO.

She returned to Microsoft in February 2024 as President of the CoreAI division. In February 2026, she was named EVP and CEO of Microsoft Gaming, later rebranded as XBOX. Her appointment surprised the industry due to her lack of video game experience, but she has since focused on great games, recommitment to Xbox hardware, and responsible AI use. Under her leadership, the company cut Game Pass prices, wound down Copilot for Gaming, and announced a major restructuring in July 2026.