MSFT’s LinkedIn Chief Ryan Roslansky To Exit As AI Leadership Shake-Up Continues

• Roslansky has led LinkedIn since 2020, after joining the company in 2009 as its product chief, well before Microsoft’s $27 billion acquisition of the professional network.
• CEO Satya Nadella said in a memo to employees that Roslansky is leaving the organization in a strong position.
• Roslansky took on broader Microsoft responsibilities in 2025, including work across Office and, more recently, Microsoft 365 applications and Copilot.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) executive Ryan Roslansky, who led the company’s LinkedIn subsidiary for six years, will leave the software giant at the end of 2026, as the company continues to reshape its leadership and operations around generative artificial intelligence. CEO Satya Nadella announced Roslansky’s departure in a Thursday memo, saying, “After nearly 18 years at LinkedIn and Microsoft, Ryan Roslansky has decided to leave Microsoft and embark on his next chapter.”

At the time of writing on Thursday afternoon, MSFT shares were trading 0.3% higher.

Roslansky To Leave MSFT At End Of 2026

“Ryan leaves the organization in a strong position,” Nadella wrote in his message to employees.

Roslansky joined LinkedIn as product chief in 2009, when the professional social network was still private. He previously held management roles at Yahoo and Glam Media, reported CNBC. Microsoft acquired LinkedIn for $27 billion in 2016, and Roslansky replaced Jeff Weiner as LinkedIn CEO in 2020.

During Roslansky’s tenure as CEO, LinkedIn’s membership grew from 700 million to 1.3 billion, the CNBC report said.

In 2025, Roslansky took on additional responsibility in Microsoft’s Office productivity software group. Earlier this year, Nadella named Roslansky and two other executives as leaders of the Microsoft 365 applications and the Copilot artificial intelligence platform. Dan Shapero, LinkedIn’s chief operating officer, became the professional social network’s CEO.

Microsoft Pushes Deeper Into AI

Microsoft has been trying to evolve and capitalize on the rise of generative artificial intelligence, CNBC reported. Gaming head Phil Spencer and Office leader Rajesh Jha both left this year, while Charlie Bell, the company’s head of security, became an individual contributor.

Nadella also highlighted Roslansky’s contributions to the unified Copilot app, which Microsoft announced last week.

“With Copilot, we are executing rapidly against our vision to build a new OS for work that spans every model, every form factor, and every task, with Office fully embedded in Copilot and vice versa! Over the past year, Ryan’s team has done critical work bringing together the product, engineering, and design foundations that have made this next phase possible.”

Roslansky Cites Bay Area As Departure Reason

Roslansky told workers in a memo that he was Weiner’s first hire at LinkedIn and said he had been inspired by the progress in Office around AI.

“I know what it would take for me to lead the next phase of this work well: being in Redmond full time, every day,” Roslansky wrote. “But my life and my family’s life are here in the Bay Area.”

He ended his message, saying, “Thank you for the best 18 years I could have asked for.”

MSFT Stock: Stocktwits Retail Sentiment

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for MSFT was ‘bullish,’ unchanged over the past 24 hours, while message volume was ‘normal’ at the time of writing.

MSFT stock has gained 0.34% year-to-date.

Also See: MSFT Stock Lands On Wells Fargo’s Q4 ‘Tactical Ideas List’ – Analyst Sees A 41% Upside Potential

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.