According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, Asha Sharma is taking an unusually blunt approach to fixing Microsoft’s struggling Xbox business. The 38-year-old executive has no background in videogames, but is already pushing through layoffs, strategic changes and a major reset for the gaming division
MC Tech Desk
September 13, 2026 / 15:14 IST
Asha Sharma
Asha Sharma had never worked in videogames before Microsoft put her in charge of Xbox. Now, the 38-year-old executive is overseeing one of the company’s biggest businesses at a time when its growth has stalled and its strategy is being reassessed.
The Wall Street Journal’s profile of Sharma offers a closer look at the executive and the approach she is bringing to Xbox. Rather than softening difficult news, Sharma believes employees should be confronted with the reality of the business.
“Clarity is kindness,” Sharma tells colleagues.
That philosophy is particularly relevant given the challenges Xbox is facing. The business generates around $23 billion in revenue, but that figure is declining, while its profit margin is reportedly only around 3%. Game Pass has also fallen short of Microsoft’s earlier expectations.
“Great companies are incredibly comfortable sharing successes and sharing wins,” Sharma said during a town hall at Minecraft. “Every company needs to be better at sharing hard things and clear realities.”
Microsoft is betting on Sharma to reset Xbox
Sharma became CEO of Xbox in February after Phil Spencer’s departure. Her appointment came as something of a surprise because she had no previous experience in the videogame industry.
According to the WSJ’s report, Microsoft executives believed her experience building and running consumer businesses could help her tackle Xbox’s problems despite her unfamiliarity with gaming.
Sharma has already begun making significant changes. Microsoft announced in July that Xbox would eliminate 3,200 jobs, roughly 20% of its workforce, while also reducing the number of games it develops.
The focus is now shifting toward major franchises with greater growth potential, including Halo and Elder Scrolls. Sharma also wants Minecraft to expand its user-generated content and compete more directly with platforms such as Roblox.
Her career has been anything but conventional
Sharma started her career at Microsoft but left after two years to join startup Porch, where she eventually became COO. She later joined Meta, where she rapidly rose through the ranks and became a vice president overseeing products including Messenger.
She then moved to Instacart as chief operating officer, helping the company through the pandemic and its 2023 IPO.
Sharma returned to Microsoft in 2024 to work on AI products. By late 2025, CEO Satya Nadella was considering her for the Xbox role.
“She’s very intense,” her former Meta boss Stan Chudnovsky told the WSJ. “She works very hard and she expects the people around her to work very hard as well.”
Sharma is trying to understand players firsthand
The WSJ report also highlights how Sharma is attempting to get closer to Xbox customers. She spends several hours each month responding to customer-support tickets, giving her a direct look at the problems players encounter.
She has already removed a widely disliked Xbox AI assistant and made it easier for people who own games on discs to obtain digital versions.
Todd Howard, head of the Microsoft studio behind Fallout and Elder Scrolls, has praised Sharma’s ability to identify problems quickly.
“She’s uniquely effective at cutting through and communicating clearly, ‘Here’s what the issues are and here’s where the opportunities are,’” Howard said.
Sharma’s challenge now is to prove that her direct, numbers-focused approach can turn around Xbox. After years of expansion, Microsoft’s gaming business is entering a period of consolidation, and Sharma appears determined to make difficult decisions rather than hide from them.
Make the “According to” angle clearer.
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first published: Sep 13, 2026 02:51 pm
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