7 Big Microsoft Hires In 2023 So Far From Google, AWS, Salesforce, VMware

Microsoft has hired multiple executives this year from Google, AWS, Salesforce and VMware among other cloud rivals.

A corporate vice president of Europe, the Middle East and Africa recruited from Amazon Web Services. Another CVP with a history at Salesforce. And a vice president of messaging and real time analytics platform from Google.

These are some of the biggest hires for Microsoft this year with track records from some of the Redmond, Wash.-based vendor’s biggest rivals in cloud computing.

The hires come as these tech titans compete over a scarcity of technical talent to further practices around cloud, business applications and industry-focused products and services.

Microsoft Hires From Google, AWS

Microsoft, Google and Amazon have all laid off tens of thousands of employees this year as customers slow spending on workplace technology since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the emerging field of generative AI has the potential to reinvigorate customer spending and appetite around technology.

Some of these major Microsoft hires from competitors include:

*Darren Hardman, CVP, EMEA

*Jonathan Hunt, CVP, Business Applications

*Yitzhak Kesselman, VP, Messaging and Real Time Analytics Platform

Read on for more about Microsoft’s biggest hires so far this year from rivals.

Yitzhak Kesselman

Yitzhak Kesselman returned to Microsoft in May from Google, taking on the role of vice president of messaging and real time analytics platform, according to his LinkedIn account.

Kesselman previously worked at Microsoft for more than eight years, leaving in 2021 with the title of partner director of software engineering. In this role, he worked on Power BI and led a team of more than 200 engineers.

According to an online profile of Kesselman, he was “on the Power BI product from its day-1” and “worked tirelessly to deliver the iPhone app and Android offering (Phone/Tablet) for Power BI, Power BI Premium, and responsible for the overall Power BI Service Platform.”

Before returning to Microsoft, he worked at Google for more than a year. He left with the title of monitoring director, according to his LinkedIn account.

At Google parent Alphabet, he led “monitoring products, critical for the reliability of Alphabet’s production infrastructure and products.”

Those monitoring products “provide actionable insights into service health metrics, empowering engineers and executives with effortless and delightful monitoring of end-user experiences,” according to his LinkedIn account. “Intelligent monitoring tools focused on prevention of outages and risk reduction at Google scale. Consequently impacting the reliability of all products from Google search to autonomous vehicles that serve 4B+ users worldwide.”

At Google, his team included “engineers, PMs, TPMs and UX spanning NYC, Zurich and Munich,” according to his LinkedIn account.

Darren Hardman

Microsoft hired Darren Hardman in April as its corporate vice president of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) – taking him from a vice president role at Amazon Web Services.

Hardman previously served as VP and general manager of AWS U.K. and Ireland, according to his LinkedIn. He worked at AWS for about three years.

In this role, he led “the second largest geographic unit across the global business, guiding the overall direction and vision of AWS in the region,” and empowered teams to support organizations’ journey to the cloud, according to his LinkedIn.

Hardman’s resume includes more than eight years with Microsoft solution provider Avanade, leaving the solution provider in 2019 with the title of Europe president.

In this role, he was “responsible for directing strategy and operations across Avanade Europe’s 15 geographies,” with Avanade Europe a “>$1bn business with over 9,500 dedicated professionals.”

Nina Somerville

In April, Nina Somerville returned to Microsoft as vice president of U.S. health and life sciences, leaving an executive vice president role at Salesforce.

Somerville worked at Salesforce for about four years before leaving with the title of EVP of Marketing Cloud, according to her LinkedIn.

She previously worked at Microsoft for about 14 years, leaving in 2019 with the title of general manager, Northeast Solution Sales.

Jonathan Hunt

Jonathan Hunt – a Salesforce veteran – joined Microsoft in March, taking on the role of corporate vice president for business applications, according to his LinkedIn account.

He worked at Salesforce for about 11 years, according to his LinkedIn account. Hunt left the vendor in 2021 with the title of executive vice president and chief operating officer for North America.

Before Hunt came to the Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant, he worked at Databricks for almost two years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company with the title of senior vice president of global go-to-market (GTM) strategy and operations for renewals and sales development.

John Bunney

John Bunney joined Microsoft in March as its vice president of enhanced offers. Bunney left his role at Google Cloud as senior managing director for global Google Cloud Platform (GCP) support.

Bunney worked at Google for about three years, according to his LinkedIn. He also worked at Cisco for about 20 years, leaving in 2020 with the title of vice president of customer experience.

In this Cisco role, he was “responsible for the growth and retention of $3.5B in Annual Recurring Revenue and delivery on $2B/year of Support and Professional Services,” according to his LinkedIn.

Andrew Campbell

In February, Microsoft named Andrew Campbell its new chief technology officer for U.K. defense after Campbell concluded about 12 years with VMware.

Campbell left VMware with the title of lead solution engineer and solution architect, according to his LinkedIn.

His VMware tenure included about six years as a senior systems engineer and solutions architect. During this time, he provided “support to the VMware sales team and channel partners in pursuit of virtual infrastructure business opportunities,” according to his LinkedIn.

He also gained “prospects’ technical recommendation to develop a business relationship with VMware and its channel partners” and helped “define, accelerate and close transactional and enterprise business within a geographic territory or defined set of accounts.”

His resume includes less than a year with Airbus, leaving in 2011 as an Ingress protection (IP) test and integration engineer. He also worked at Barclays for more than two years, leaving in 2010 with the title of infrastructure specialist.

Ross Kennedy

Microsoft hired Ross Kennedy in January as vice president of the digital natives unit, according to his LinkedIn account.

In a post on LinkedIn, Kennedy said he works under Casey McGee, Microsoft’s vice president of global independent software vendor (ISV) sales. In this role, he will “harness Microsoft Cloud to enable Digital Native Enterprises - at all stages - to innovate, scale, and become market makers and disruptors.”

Kennedy came to the Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant after more than four years with Google, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the company with the title of global director of deal pursuit for Google Cloud.

During his time at Google Cloud, he helped to grow the unit from $5.8 billion to more than $30 billion, according to his Linkedin account.

Previously, Kennedy worked at Liferay for more than six years. He left the company in 2018 with the title of vice president of sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and general manager of international operations.