Microsoft hired a Google exec to replace security boss Charlie Bell, who is moving to a new IC role, internal memo shows

• Microsoft's security boss, Charlie Bell, is moving to a new role as an individual contributor.
• The company hired Google executive Hayete Gallot to replace him.
• Microsoft has faced security challenges during Bell's tenure.

Microsoft's security boss, Charlie Bell, is moving to a new role as an individual contributor, and the company hired Google executive Hayete Gallot to replace him, according to an internal memo from CEO Satya Nadella.

Gallot is a former Microsoft executive who joined Google in 2024 as president of customer experience for Google Cloud. Nadella called out Gallot's 15 years of experience at Microsoft in senior leadership roles across engineering and sales, and said Gallot was instrumental in the company's security business.

Bell, considered a key building of Amazon Web Services, joined Microsoft in 2021 to run a newly formed organization focused on cybersecurity. There was recent speculation inside Microsoft that Bell was preparing to retire. Bell's new role will be "focused on engineering quality," according to the memo.

Microsoft has faced security challenges during Bell's tenure.

The Department of Homeland Security in 2024, for example, condemned Microsoft for what it called "a cascade of security failures" that allowed Chinese hackers to access emails from thousands of customers.

Microsoft, that same year, expanded what the company calls its Secure Future Initiative, making security the top priority for every employee, including adding security as a metric on which employees are evaluated during performance reviews.

Bell was expected to be a candidate to replace Andy Jassy when he took over as Amazon CEO for founder Jeff Bezos in 2021. Instead, Jassy chose Adam Selipsky, who was previously AWS's de facto chief operating officer until he left in 2016 to become CEO of Tableau. Selipsky stepped down from that role in 2024.

Read the memo

I am excited to share a couple updates in two of our core priorities: security and quality. Hayete Gallot is rejoining Microsoft as Executive Vice President, Security, reporting to me. I've also asked Charlie Bell to take on a new role focused on engineering quality, reporting to me.

Charlie and I have been planning this transition for some time, given his desire to move from being an org leader to being an IC engineer. And I love how energized he is to practice this craft here day in and day out!

Hayete joins us from Google where she was President, Customer Experience for Google Cloud. Before that, she spent more than 15 years at Microsoft with senior leadership roles across engineering and sales, playing multiple critical roles in building two of our biggest franchises — Windows and Office, leading our commercial solution areas go to market efforts. And she was instrumental in the design and implementation of our Security Solution Area. She brings an ethos that combines product building with value realization for customers, which is critical right now.

As we shared during our quarterly earnings last week, we have great momentum in security, including progress with Security Copilot agents, strong Purview adoption, and continued customer growth, and we will build on this.

We have a deep bench of talent and leaders across our security business, and this team will now report to Hayete. Additionally, Ales Holecek will take on a new role as Chief Architect for Security, reporting to Hayete. Ales has spent years leading architecture and development across some of our most important platforms and will help bring that same sensibility to security and its connections back to our existing scale businesses and the Agent Platform.

As we shared yesterday, we have a new operating rhythm with commercial cohorts, and Hayete and her team will now be accountable for our security product rhythms as part of this process.

Charlie built our Security, Compliance, Identity, and Management organization and helped rally the company behind the Secure Future Initiative. And we're fortunate to have his continued focus and leadership on another one of our top priorities. With our Quality Excellence Initiative, we have increased accountability and accelerated progress against our engineering objectives to ensure we always deliver durable, high quality-experiences at global scale. And Charlie will partner closely with Scott Guthrie and Mala Anand on this work.

I'm excited to welcome Hayete back to Microsoft to advance this mission critical work, and grateful to Charlie for all he has done for our security business and what he will continue to do for the company. 

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