Panos Panay is Amazon’s new Devices & Services Leader

Following the unexpected announcement of Panos Panay’s departure from Microsoft, Amazon officially announced today that the Microsoft veteran will become the company’s new Devices & Services leader in October. Panay will replace Dave Limp, who made his last appearance at the company’s fall keynote last week before retiring from Amazon later this year.

“I’ve known Panos for years, and believe he will be a great addition to this organization moving forward,” Limp said in a note published today. “He is a passionate product leader and I can’t wait to see what all of you invent together. I’ll work diligently with him for the next two months to ensure a smooth transition through our fall launches.”

In a separate note, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy described Panay as “a strong product builder and inventor who has deep experience in both hardware and integrated services.” The former Microsoft Chief Product Officer is responsible for launching the Surface line and turning what could be seen as aspirational hardware into a billion-dollar business.

According to a recent report from Business Insider, Microsoft could be refocusing its Surface efforts on the most popular form factors and abandoning more experimental products. This new strategy could be responsible for Panay’s departure from Microsoft, and the company’s special event last week was probably quite disappointing for Surface fans, even though the new Surface Laptop Studio 2 looks like a solid upgrade.

In comparison, Amazon’s devices and services event last week was packed with new smart home devices, and the company also unveiled new generative AI features for its Alexa digital assistant. This should be a nice playground for Panay, even though Amazon has historically struggled to turn Alexa-powered devices into a money-making business.