Asha Sharma-appointed Xbox VP of engineering leaves just three months after moving over from Microsoft’s CoreAI team
Jared Palmer, who recently joined Xbox as VP of engineering, has announced his departure after just three months to join AI startup Cognition. Palmer was brought to Xbox as part of a broader move by new Xbox leadership Asha Sharma, who took over the division in February 2026 and subsequently recruited several colleagues from Microsoft’s CoreAI team.
Palmer’s appointment came as part of Sharma’s strategic restructuring of Xbox, with multiple CoreAI team members joining in May. However, his brief tenure at Xbox has now ended with his move to Cognition, where he will lead engineering efforts at the AI company.
In his announcement on social media, Palmer expressed gratitude for his time at Xbox, stating he was “grateful to Asha Sharma and everyone at Xbox for an amazing year.” The departure marks one of the early personnel changes following Sharma’s leadership transition at Xbox.
While some gaming press have characterized the departure as a non-story given industry norms around executive mobility, the move does represent an early departure from Xbox’s newly restructured leadership team under Sharma’s direction.