People always tend to focus on someone taking on the role of CEO for the first time, but Asha Sharma receives even more attention than most others.
Since taking on the role of Xbox CEO in February this year, responsible for turning around Microsoft's underperforming video game business, she has been subject to criticism and made into memes, yet she has also gained popularity – despite the fact that what is most well-known about her is her virtually no experience in the video game industry.
My colleague Sebastian Herrera went to Seattle to observe the work status of Sharma at Microsoft's headquarters. What he saw was a "decisive board-level leader" who without hesitation set aside years of strategy to tackle this business worth $21 billion.
She said to him, "We're not here just to do the bare minimum to maintain a decent business. We're here to become the number one entertainment company."
Sebastian raised an interesting question: with Microsoft being so focused on winning the AI competition, will the company invest enough attention and resources to win in the gaming business? Could Xbox be sold in order to help Microsoft with its future fundraising for AI?
To learn more about Microsoft’s Xbox strategy, and how this unexpected “non-player” CEO managed to win over a skeptical gaming community, please read his in-depth profile of Sharma. I assure you, it’s well worth reading.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe @ fortune.com
“Most Powerful Women Daily” newsletter is a daily briefing by Fortune for female leaders in the business world and about them.
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