CEO Nadella Names Gallot EVP, Current Head Charlie Bell Takes New Engineering Role
Microsoft tapped Google customer experience leader Hayete Gallot to run its security business and shifted Charlie Bell to oversee the Seattle-area software giant’s engineering quality.
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Gallot returned to Microsoft after 17 months at Google, and sees security as foundational to the success of artificial intelligence and digital transformation. Bell has led Micosoft’s security organization since September 2021, and expressed a desire to return to the craft of engineering, where he was focused for his nearly 24 years with Amazon and AWS. Both Gallot and Bell will report directly to Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella.
“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 [instrumentation and control] engineer,” Nadella wrote in a message to Microsoft employees Wednesday. “And I love how energized he is to practice this craft here day in and day out!”
Gallot rejoined Microsoft after serving as Google Cloud’s president of customer experience since October 2024. Prior to that, she spent nearly 16 years at Microsoft, including a 16-month stint as corporate vice president of modern work and security, and nearly three years running all Microsoft solution area sales, including security. Gallot is now in a more senior role as executive vice president of Microsoft Security (see: How Microsoft Is Beefing Up Security With 34,000 Engineers).
Why Nadella Tapped Gallot to Lead Microsoft’s Security Unit
Nadella said Gallot played a critical role in building Windows and Office, was instrumental in the design and implementation of the company’s security solution area, and brings an ethos that combines product building with value realization. He also appointed CTO of Experiences + Devices Ales Holecek as chief architect for security, where he’ll bridge security with Microsoft’s broader platform and agent strategy.
“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,” Nadella wrote in his message to employees. “We have a deep bench of talent and leaders across our security business, and this team will now report to Hayete.”
The promise of AI will only be realized if AI systems are secure, governed and trustworthy, making Microsoft’s ability to secure identities, data and AI agents at scale a competitive differentiator rather than just a risk mitigation strategy, according to executives. Microsoft has seen the expansion of Security Copilot agents and massive growth in Purview-audited Copilot interactions, Nadella said.
“Security has been a passion of mine throughout my career, and working closely with customers to transform their businesses has given me a front row seat to just how critical security is,” Gallot wrote on LinkedIn. “As we embark on one of the most significant transformations in our lifetime, realizing the astonishing potential of AI will only succeed if we can secure AI solutions and make them safe.”
Bell in his new role will lead Microsoft’s quality excellence initiative, which Nadella said has increased accountability and accelerated progress against the firm’s engineering objectives to ensure Microsoft always delivers durable, high quality-experiences at global scale. Bell will partner closely with EVP, Cloud + AI Group Scott Guthrie and Chief Customer Experience Officer Mala Anand on this work, Nadella said.
“I’m excited to share that I’ll be beginning my next chapter at Microsoft, focused on how we drive quality across our core systems,” Bell wrote on LinkedIn. “Folks who’ve known me for the last 25 years will know that my LinkedIn title was simply ‘engineer’ for most of my executive career. I’m thrilled that I can reclaim that title and all rights and privileges that come with it.”
Microsoft Fraud and Abuse Boss Kelly Bissell to Leave Company
In addition to Bell’s reassignment, Microsoft Corporate Vice President for Fraud and Abuse Kelly Bissell is leaving the company after more than four years. Bissell joined Microsoft in January 2022 from Accenture – where he was global managing director for security – and worked with Azure, M365, LinkedIn and gaming to implement fraud and abuse protection and detection capabilities into the product fabric.
“After four years at Microsoft, I am moving on to the next chapter in my story,” Bissell wrote on LinkedIn. “I consider myself enormously lucky to have started my career at the dawn of tech in 1988 and, according to incident logs, calendar artifacts and several late-night back-of-the-napkin calculations, I have worked approximately 107,160 hours.”
The leadership change comes nearly two years after a federally empaneled Cyber Safety Review Board blamed Microsoft’s “corporate culture that deprioritized enterprise security investments” for allowing preventable security breaches. As a result, Microsoft said it elevated security to a CEO-level concern with direct accountability, frequent executive reviews and explicit prioritization over feature velocity.
“Cloud computing is some of the most critical infrastructure we have, as it hosts sensitive data and powers business operations across our economy,” former DHS Under Secretary of Policy and CSRB Chair Robert Silvers said in April 2024. “It is imperative that cloud service providers prioritize security and build it in by design.”
In response, Microsoft allocated 34,000 engineers to engrain security in the company’s operations, standardized logging across nearly all assets and pursued tenant isolation, zero trust enforcement and deep governance reforms. The company also embraced governance structures such as deputy CISOs aligned to product lines, centralized risk visibility and executive-level accountability.
“Satya is very clear: Security is top priority, quality is top priority and then balance with all the customer product feature needs,” Microsoft Identity and Network Access President Joy Chik told Information Security Media Group in September 2024. “That clear message on priority is really important.”