J Allard Joins Amazon

Former Xbox leader J Allard has quietly joined Amazon, where he’s taken on the role of vice president of product. He will report to former Windows and Devices chief Panos Panay.

News of the move comes via Geekwire, which confirmed with Amazon that Allard joined the company’s Devices and Services team, which is responsible for the Echo and Alexa product lines. But that was all they found out. It’s not clear which devices or services he might now oversee. (Separately, Amazon today announced a new generation of low-cost Fire HD 8 tablets.)

Allard worked for Microsoft from 1991 to 2010. He played a key role in getting Bill Gates to finally notice the Internet, kicking off the software giant’s Internet Tidal wave period in the late 1990s. But he is perhaps best known for his leadership role at Xbox and the infamous Courier tablet concept that was killed during development.

Geekwire notes that Allard also ran Project 529 after leaving Microsoft and that he briefly joined Intellivision in 2020. I’m curious what he’s doing at Amazon.