By Shira Ovide
Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Satya Nadella is bringing back a
former company executive to advise him on business and technology
strategy, in a sign Mr. Nadella wants to ensure his company doesn't
miss coming technology waves.
Kurt DelBene, who retired from Microsoft in 2013 and then
oversaw efforts to fix the HealthCare.gov website, is returning to
the company in the newly created role of executive vice president
of corporate strategy and planning. Mr. DelBene will report to Mr.
Nadella, and his responsibilities include "identifying future
investments and opportunities," and helping Mr. Nadella execute
strategic initiatives, Microsoft said in a statement Monday.
Reached on Monday, Mr. DelBene said he was "very excited to be
going back" to Microsoft.
Mr. Nadella hasn't changed his executive suite much in the 14
months since he has been CEO. Mr. DelBene's appointment is a sign
Mr. Nadella is filling out his trusted circle, and that the CEO
wants more eyes on critical questions like how Microsoft should
invest in emerging technologies.
Keeping ahead of technological changes is crucial to Microsoft,
which was caught flat-footed on several shifts of prior decades,
including Web search and mobile computing.
Mr. DelBene is a familiar figure at Microsoft. An engineer by
training, he worked at the company for more than 20 years, the
final three as president of the division anchored by Microsoft
Office. Then-CEO Steve Ballmer announced Mr. DelBene's retirement
from Microsoft in 2013, as the company rolled out a sweeping
corporate restructuring that left a different executive in charge
of Office. Weeks after the restructuring, Mr. Ballmer also
announced he would retire when a successor was found.
Mr. DelBene signed up at the end of 2013 for what was billed as
a temporary stint advising the U.S. Health and Human Services
Secretary. He was credited with helping to stabilize the
glitch-prone HealthCare.gov website. He stopped doing day-to-day
work for the government last summer.
In September, he took a position with Madrona Venture Group, a
Seattle firm that invests in technology startups. There, Mr.
DelBene was instrumental in Madrona's investment in Icebrg, a
computer-security startup founded by two former Microsoft security
executives. He also advised young companies such as Smartsheet.com
Inc. and ExtraHop Networks Inc. that sell tech services to
businesses.
Mr. Nadella and Mr. DelBene know each other well. They were
colleagues on equal footing when Mr. DelBene last worked at
Microsoft. The two have kept in regular touch to discuss tech
trends since Mr. DelBene left the federal government, according to
a person familiar with the conversations.
Write to Shira Ovide at shira.ovide@wsj.com
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