What Anand Mahindra said while congratulating Microsoft Xbox’s new head Asha Sharma

Billionaire Anand Mahindra has congratulated Asha Sharma on her appointment as the new head of Microsoft Xbox head, describing gaming as a form of “art” that goes beyond “entertainment”. In a post shared on microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter), Mahindra praised Sharma’s perspective on gaming and wished her success in her new role. “Your view of gaming as art resonates deeply. Games aren’t just entertainment; they’re storytelling, design, music, community. The canvas just happens to be interactive,” he wrote.Mahindra quoted Asha Sharma’s post where she outlined her “three commitments” in her new role as CEO of Microsoft Xbox. Mahindra concluded his message by congratulating Sharma and wishing her well. “Congratulations Asha. May fortune favour your journey,” he wrote.

Meet Asha Sharma, Xbox’s new CEO

Before taking on the new role as Xbox CEO, Asha Sharma served as President of CoreAI Product at Microsoft, where she led the company’s AI product portfolio. Her responsibilities included overseeing AI models, applications, AI agents, responsible AI initiatives, and developer tools used by customers globally. Prior to that, she was Corporate Vice President and Head of Product for Microsoft’s AI Platform.Sharma has also held board positions at The Home Depot since 2025 and at Coupang since 2024. Coupang is a Fortune 200 technology platform and South Korea’s largest e-commerce company.Earlier in her career, Sharma was Chief Operating Officer at Instacart from 2021 to 2024, where she helped lead the company to its initial public offering and profitability. She was responsible for a business with more than $30 billion in gross merchandise value.Between 2017 and 2021, she worked at Meta as Vice President of Product and Engineering. There, she led product teams across Messenger and Instagram Direct and served as General Manager for calling, video, and children’s experiences.Before that, she was Chief Operating Officer at Porch Group from 2013 to 2017, helping build the company before its $1 billion public debut. She began her earlier tenure at Microsoft in marketing from 2011 to 2013.