Xbox VP of engineering leaves after two months for AI startup

A senior executive hired to help lead Microsoft's Xbox division through a major reset has departed after just two months in his publicly announced role. Jared Palmer, who was appointed vice president of engineering in May, has left the company to join artificial intelligence startup Cognition in the same capacity.

Palmer announced the move on social media on July 21, expressing gratitude to Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and his colleagues. His departure comes during a period of significant transition for the gaming platform, which is undergoing extensive restructuring under its new leadership.

Palmer was a key part of the leadership team assembled by Sharma, who took over the Xbox division in February. He was brought in from Microsoft's internal CoreAI group, which Sharma previously led, with a mandate to focus on developer tools, engineering, and platform infrastructure. In a May memo to staff, Sharma stated Palmer would work directly with her on the division's most complex product and engineering challenges, emphasizing a goal of using technology to support game creators.

The executive's tenure at Microsoft was brief overall; he joined the CoreAI team in October 2025 before moving to...