Asha Sharma, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Microsoft’s Xbox division, reportedly spends a few hours personally resolving player support tickets and gathering direct feedback and guidance from dedicated users.
Sharma takes charge of Xbox amid declining revenue
The Wall Street Journal recently profiled Sharma, revealing how the woman who had no experience in videogames runs her business. While the global popularity of videogames continues to rise, has struggled to maintain growth. The division generates around $23 billion in revenue, but the figure is declining, while its workforce of about 14,000 employees operates on a profit margin of only three per cent. Its Game Pass subscription service has also failed to meet earlier projections.
Sharma has openly acknowledged these challenges in meetings and internal communications as she works to turn around the business through significant job cuts, strategic changes and a major reallocation of .
A look at Sharma’s approach to running Xbox
According to WSJ, the 38-year-old CEO has a mantra she tells her colleagues: “Clarity is kindness.” Last month, at a town hall in the offices of one of her most important franchises, “,” she said, “Great companies are incredibly comfortable sharing successes and sharing wins,” and added, “Every company needs to be better at sharing hard things and clear realities.”
Elaborating on her philosophy from her modest office by C-suite standards at Microsoft’s corporate campus, Sharma, a mother of three, said that this philosophy has played a key role in her rapid rise through senior leadership positions at companies including Platforms and Instacart.
Who is Asha Sharma?
The Xbox CEO is the second among five siblings. Her parents moved from New Zealand to Racine, Wisconsin, where they joined her aunt and her husband, who ran a metal fabrication business. Her father worked at the company while studying for an engineering degree, and his strong work ethic influenced Sharma, who carried the same determination into activities ranging from martial arts to a job collecting rubbish at a local park.
She initially hoped to balance her parents’ expectations that she pursue medicine with her passion for sports by becoming a team doctor for the Green Bay Packers.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Sharma holds a Bachelor of Science in Business degree from UMN Carlson School of Management. Before taking over as Microsoft’s CEO, she worked at several companies, including Meta, Instacart, and other technology companies in senior leadership roles.
She started her career in marketing with Microsoft between 2011 and 2013, following which she served as the COO at Porch Group.
Between 2017 and 2021, Sharma worked at Meta as VP for Product and Engineering. In 2021, she joined Instacart as its COO and helped lead the company to an IPO and profitability.
Since September 2024, she has been serving as a Board Member for Coupang, a Fortune 200 tech platform. Since 2025, she has also been appointed as a Board Member for The Home Depot.
Sharma joined Microsoft for a second stint in August 2024 as President, CoreAI Product, a role which she held until February 2026. In February, she was promoted to the position of EVP, CEO at Xbox.
As developers and players questioned Sharma’s takeover of one of the most important companies in the industry, she has made it clear that she wants to transform the company quickly. However, it remains to be seen whether Sharma will be able to turn the declining Xbox business around and deliver on her ambitious growth and profitability targets.