Microsoft’s chief product officer Panos Panay is leaving the company and with that there were some internal leadership changes. Including Yusuf Mehdi and Mikhail Parakhin who are both super involved with Bing have newish roles.

Yusuf Mehdi: According to some reports, Yusuf Mehdi will be replacing the bulk of Panos Panay role. “Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s consumer marketing head, will “take on the responsibility of leading the Windows and Surface businesses with our OEM and Retail partners.” The organizational shift comes at a busy time for Microsoft, as it doubles down on adding AI features to Windows 11, while the rumored release of Windows 12 is expected to arrive next year.” Yusuf Mehdi has been with Microsoft for over 30 years.

Mikhail Parakhin: Mikhail Parakhin, in the image above and someone we quote a ton here around Bing Chat and Bing Search, is now responsible for a new “Windows and Web Experiences Team”. This will “create experiences that connect web, services and Windows for an AI world.”

Mikhail Parakhin said on X that this does not mean he is leaving his role with Bing Search and Bing Chat, he said “Yep, definitely, it’s an addition to our team, not a different role.”

Mikhail Parakhin joined Microsoft originally in 2007 but left to work at Yandex, the Russian search engine, in 2014, becoming the CTO there until he went back to Microsoft in 2019 to lead up Bing – technically, people call him the CEO of Bing. But:

Here is the email Microsoft sent internally:

Congrats Yusuf Mehdi & Mikhail Parakhin!

Forum discussion at X.