The change follows a large corporate reshuffle which Nadella announced at the start of the month. Albert Shum has been with the company since 2007 and has worked on some of their most ambitious projects.
Shum has a Master’s in product design from the Standford University, which he has put to good use as the design IQ behind Zune and Windows Phone. He’s also been part of the overall design of Microsoft’s OS UX since 2013.
The news of the promotion came from Gabriel Aul, another VP for the company, who congratulated him on Twitter:
So excited! Privileged to be at Albert Shum's promotion to VP at Microsoft. Design IQ behind Zune and Windows Phone. pic.twitter.com/budXCNHOof
— Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) July 28, 2016
Shum has since responded to the promotion, saying,“It’s been an amazing journey with a group of dreamers, thinkers, makers, working together to make good stuff happen.”
Shum’s UX design was most noticeable during Windows Phone 7, which was widely praised as one of Microsoft’s best. Schum has been managing large teams since he first joined the company, so will be well suited to the VP position.
Early Career
The new VP was originally born in Hong Kong, but was raised in Canada and schooled in the USA. His early career began at Nike in 1996, where he worked as an Advance Product Designer for two years.
He then worked his way up to Program Manager, before being quickly promoted to Business Director, then New Business Innovation Director two years later. In that position he stayed for five years, developing Nike’s brand strategy and creating the SPARQ business plan, which netted Nike $3 million in first-year revenue.
Schum has given a lot to Microsoft over the past nine years, and it’s great to see that he is being given the recognition he deserves. Join us in congratulating Albert, and let us know what you think of the change below.
