Microsoft has appointed LinkedIn’s senior engineering executive Kevin Scott as its new chief technology officer (CTO).
Scott will join Microsoft’s senior leadership team and will report directly to the company’s CEO Satya Nadella.
He will continue to hold a role within LinkedIn as senior vice president of infrastructure and will remain on the company’s executive management team.
As Microsoft CTO, Scott will drive strategic, cross-company initiatives to maximise its impact with members and customers.
Before joining LinkedIn, Scott worked at Google and
AdMob. He served as an adviser to various Silicon Valley startups.
Nadella said: “We are thrilled that Kevin will bring to Microsoft his unique expertise developing platforms and services that empower people and organizations.
“Kevin’s first area of focus is to bring together the world’s leading professional network and professional cloud.”
The new Microsoft CTO said: “The thing that gets me up in the morning and that has always excited me about technology is its role in empowering people and helping to enrich their lives.
“I am very optimistic about where Microsoft is headed and how we can continue to use technology to solve some of society’s most important challenges.”
Microsoft acquired LinkedIn in a $26bn deal that closed on 8 December 2016. The buy-out gave the tech giant access to the data of 433m users, of which 105m are active every month.
READ: What is Microsoft getting from its $26.2 billion LinkedIn acquisition?
LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner has also joined Microsoft’s leadership team and is taking responsibility of managing the merger integration efforts, at Nadella’s request.
The companies have so far not announced product integrations, but they are anticipated to be unveiled throughout this year.
