This year marks the 25th anniversary of the original Xbox, which was launched by Microsoft in 2001. The Xbox name has been used for every generation of the console that followed, with some disagreement about whether the word should be spelled out in all caps. Now, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is asking players how they spell it: "Xbox" or "XBOX"?
The AI X Leadership Summit is designed for executives and technical leaders navigating the complex realities of AI adoption, governance, workforce transformation, and innovation.
The opportunity is enormous: to reimagine work, unlock creativity, and expand what organizations and people can do. So is the pressure. In response, many organizations are rolling out tools and launching pilots. Some of this activity is necessary. Much of it, however, misses the deeper point. Too many leaders are asking: how will AI change us? The better question is: what kind of leadership will we build to guide AI?
The episode featured the Honorable Sue Gordon, former principal deputy director of National Intelligence, Dr. David Bray, distinguished chair of the accelerator at the Stimson Center, and Prof. Barry O'Sullivan, vice chair of the European Commission's High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence. Their combined experience, spanning intelligence, technology, and organizational transformation, offered a compelling vision for executives navigating the AI era.
As revolutionary as generative AI was, Han says the value wasn't fully there, whereas agents can make a real difference for the company and its customers. "From our client service and capabilities perspective, the previous sort of permutations of AI were very limiting," she said. "Yes, there was analytics, digital transformation, AI, and ML. But it was not until GenAI started coming up and now, agentic AI-now it's truly a gift for an industry like ours."
Women working in the technology sector have been urged to trust their instincts, back their ideas, and challenge barriers to change, as industry leaders gathered at the first Inspiring Women in Technology event in Birmingham. The event, hosted by the School of Coding & AI (SOC), brought together innovators and senior professionals from across the Midlands to discuss how women can turn the challenges of AI into opportunities for leadership and impact.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's total pay package for fiscal 2025 has been confirmed, and the executive earned a total of $96.5 million for the year. That is up 22% from the previous year and represents his highest-ever annual pay. It's a massive multiple over what the median Microsoft worker makes, with the median worker taking home around $200,000. The executive's pay details are coming to light as the company faces scrutiny over its recent Xbox decisions, including layoffs, game cancellations, studio closures, price hikes, and increasing profit-margin mandates. The company as a whole has faced ongoing criticism as well due to its slate of mass layoffs, partnership with Israel, and investments in AI, among other things.
Truly unlocking the value of AI is about more than new technology; it's about leadership. Now that artificial intelligence is giving employees back hours of time every day, organizations must help their workers reimagine their roles beyond routine output and start contributing in ways that AI can't.
As generative AI, automation, and geopolitical shifts reshape the business landscape, leadership itself is undergoing a transformation. The traditional levers-capital, strategy, market timing-still matter. But increasingly, competitive advantage is determined by how leaders respond to a new set of questions: Are you treating silicon as a commodity or as a strategic asset? Can your infrastructure grow without exceeding your energy budget?
Varshney comes from IBM, where he was the head of data and artificial intelligence for the technology pioneer's consulting business. At Citi, he will report to Anand Selva, the bank's chief operating officer; and will work closely with the firm's chief technology officer, David Griffiths, to scale AI across the company, according to a memo sent to Citi employees on Tuesday morning seen by Business Insider.
The leader of a key Amazon AI project is stepping down. Dilip Kumar, VP of AWS Applications, is leaving his current position, according to people familiar with the matter. Kumar has been overseeing AWS's upcoming Quick Suite AI agent software, Business Insider previously reported. Quick Suite marks a major overhaul of AWS's AI application strategy. He also ran the Q Business AI chatbot and QuickSight analytics tool.
