Sharma Takes Helm of Xbox Amid Consolidation

Asha Sharma, CEO of Xbox, is bringing her management style to the gaming division at a critical time. With no prior experience in the videogame industry, she's taking charge with a focus on direct communication and confronting difficult numbers. Her philosophy is 'Clarity is kindness', emphasizing the importance of being transparent about business realities.

Sharma has already made significant changes, including eliminating 3,200 jobs, or roughly 20% of Xbox's workforce, to reduce costs and refocus efforts on major franchises like Halo and Elder Scrolls. She wants Minecraft to expand its user-generated content and compete more directly with platforms such as Roblox.

Sharma's unconventional route to Xbox began at Microsoft, where she spent two years before leaving for startup Porch. She later joined Meta, rising to become a vice president overseeing products including Messenger, before joining Instacart as chief operating officer. After helping the company through the pandemic and its 2023 IPO, Sharma returned to Microsoft in 2024 to work on artificial intelligence products.