Microsoft chief diversity officer Lindsay-Rae McIntyre will leave the company as it overhauls its human resources structure, following a series of high-profile departures in recent months.
A number of human resources teams will be combined, according to chief people officer Amy Coleman, including merging all engineering human resources efforts. McIntyre will depart on 31 March to join another organisation as chief people officer.
“We're in a time when technology, the way we work, and our org structures are all evolving. The pace of change is exceeding what our current operating model and decision rhythms were built for,” wrote Coleman in an internal memo.
“To accelerate the business, we have to simultaneously build experiences that reflect how employees and leaders actually work today and that anticipate their needs tomorrow.”
McIntyre joined Microsoft eight years ago. Leslie Lawson Sims will take over the chief diversity officer role under the title VP, People & Culture, and the Culture & Inclusion and HR4HR teams will be consolidated into one team under Lawson Sims.
The People Analytics team will also merge with the Employee Experience team, which Coleman said would support Microsoft’s artificial intelligence offerings. “To deliver AI-first products and experiences, we need to more intentionally connect how we design experiences with how we generate and apply insights,” Coleman wrote.
Several Microsoft executives have exited the company in recent months. Head of gaming Phil Spencer and top Microsoft Office supervisor Rajesh Jha left in February, and security executive Charlie Bell became an individual contributor this month.
These departures come as Microsoft’s spending on AI rapidly increases. Microsoft’s capital expenditures and finance leases surged 66% to $37.5 billion last quarter, though its share price has fallen by 21.6% across 2026 to date.
Meta has also reportedly planned to lay off as much as 20% of its employees to offset the costs of its AI spending, including several hundred layoffs today.
Shares in Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) closed 0.5% lower at $371.04, and dipped a further 0.1% after-hours. Its market capitalisation is $2.76 trillion.
