Microsoft AI’s chief marketing officer, Andréa Mallard, started transitioning out of her post about six months after being appointed to the role, Business Insider has learned.
In an internal email, Microsoft announced that Mallard, who joined Microsoft’s AI unit from Pinterest in January, plans to leave the company.
In the June 30 memo, viewed by Business Insider, Microsoft executive Yusuf Mehdi said Mallard planned to relocate her family to Europe in August to be closer to her father, who was unwell, and that this would result in her stepping back from her role.
Microsoft confirmed Mallard’s departure plans and said she’ll stay on until early next year as an advisor.
“I’m grateful for the incredible energy and consumer-centric ethos she’s brought to turbo-charging our Copilot marketing efforts; Andrea has played a key role in advocating for a more unified approach, including the single app experience,” the memo said.
Two people familiar with the matter said Mallard’s departure also reflected a recent change in strategy at Microsoft AI as the company rethinks consumer marketing. Microsoft is merging its consumer and business Copilot apps into a single application. Copilot, Microsoft’s flagship generative AI product, generally lags behind other AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude.
Copilot marketing is being consolidated under Microsoft executive Jared Spataro. Microsoft AI doesn’t plan to directly replace Mallard’s role.
Microsoft AI, the unit where Mallard was hired as CMO, has undergone a transition in recent months. Microsoft moved Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman to a new role focused on a superintelligence team in March, and consolidated its various commercial and consumer Copilot teams under a new executive.
Mallard has an extensive consumer marketing pedigree, having served as Pinterest’s chief marketing officer for over seven years. Prior to that, she oversaw marketing at Gap’s athleisure brand, Athleta, and served as CMO at the virtual care company Omada Health.
Marketing efforts during Mallard’s short tenure included a Super Bowl spot showing how NFL teams could use Copilot in Excel to analyze athlete performance data and build profiles of their top prospects. Microsoft has also been working with influencers like Alix Earle, who has posted video content using Copilot on her social media accounts. Work on both these projects began before Mallard joined the company.
Writing on LinkedIn in January to announce her move to Microsoft AI, Mallard said she would be hiring talent and was on the lookout for people who were passionate about “humanist AI.” She described AI as the most consequential technological shift of her lifetime.
“We have an enormous responsibility to get this right,” Mallard wrote.
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