Microsoft 365 and LinkedIn EVP Ryan Roslansky to leave Microsoft at the end of 2026 after 18 crazy years

Microsoft is making another major leadership change as Ryan Roslansky, executive vice president of LinkedIn and Microsoft 365, has decided to leave the company at the end of 2026.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced the move in a message to employees on October 1. Roslansky will remain with Microsoft through the end of the calendar year as an advisor to Nadella and will assist with the transition.

The departure comes only months after Microsoft moved Teams under Roslansky’s leadership as part of a broader AI-focused reorganization. As we previously reported when Microsoft moved Teams under LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky and reshaped its Copilot, Windows, and Microsoft 365 leadership, the company has been increasingly aligning its biggest productivity products around Copilot and AI.

Nadella said Roslansky is leaving the company in a strong position as Microsoft works toward a future where Copilot, Microsoft 365, Office, Teams, and AI agents are more closely connected.

“With Copilot, we are executing rapidly against our vision to build a new OS for work that spans every model, every form factor, and every task, with Office fully embedded in Copilot and vice versa,” Nadella said.

Ryan Roslansky will leave after nearly 18 years

Roslansky joined LinkedIn in 2009 as Jeff Weiner’s first hire and went on to lead product initiatives before becoming LinkedIn CEO in 2020. He led the professional network through the pandemic-era transformation of work, a period when remote and hybrid work became a permanent part of how many companies operate.

During his tenure, LinkedIn passed 1 billion members and has now grown to 1.3 billion members, according to Nadella. Roslansky also helped expand LinkedIn’s business substantially before taking on a larger Microsoft 365 role last year.

Microsoft asked Roslansky to help shape the next phase of Microsoft 365 as generative AI began changing how people use Office apps, Teams, and workplace software. That work included bringing Microsoft’s product, engineering, and design organizations closer together around Copilot.

Microsoft has increasingly positioned Copilot as more than a chatbot or feature inside Word and Excel. The company sees it as an AI layer that can work across documents, meetings, chats, apps, agents, and devices. Microsoft’s own Microsoft 365 and Office coverage has tracked that growing focus, including the company’s efforts to embed Copilot deeper into productivity workflows.

Roslansky cites Redmond requirement

In his own note to employees, Roslansky said leaving was a difficult decision but explained that leading Microsoft’s next phase of work would require him to be in Redmond full-time.

“I know what it would take for me to lead the next phase of this work well: being in Redmond full time, every day,” Roslansky wrote. “But my life and my family’s life are here in the Bay Area.”

Roslansky said his wife, Leigh, has strong local commitments in the Bay Area, while his youngest daughter recently started high school. He said the work should now move to leaders who are positioned to take it further.

The executive also pointed to Microsoft’s AI transition as a key part of the work ahead. He said the goal was to determine how Copilot and the future of work could operate “as one ecosystem,” rather than as disconnected apps and services.

Microsoft reshuffles Microsoft 365 and LinkedIn leaders

Nadella also announced several reporting changes that take effect immediately:

• Sumit Chauhan and Lan Ye will report to Charles Lamanna.
• Jon Friedman will report to Jacob Andreou.
• Dan Shapero will continue as LinkedIn CEO and report directly to Nadella.
• Mohak Shroff will remain in his current role and also report directly to Nadella.

Charles Lamanna is a key name to watch in this transition. He leads Microsoft’s Copilot, Agents, and Platform organization, and the reporting structure puts more of Microsoft’s productivity and AI work under that broader Copilot umbrella.

That is significant because Office and Teams are still two of Microsoft’s most important software businesses. Moving leadership closer to Microsoft’s AI organization suggests the company wants future updates to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and Copilot to be developed as parts of a single platform instead of separate products.

Dan Shapero’s role also provides continuity for LinkedIn. Shapero had already become LinkedIn CEO earlier this year, so Roslansky’s departure does not leave the company searching for a new chief executive. LinkedIn will continue to focus on its mission of connecting people with jobs, career opportunities, skills, and professional knowledge across its 1.3 billion-member network. Microsoft’s official announcement confirms that Shapero and Shroff will report directly to Nadella.

What Roslansky’s departure means for Copilot

Roslansky’s exit is not a sign that Microsoft is slowing down its Copilot push. In fact, Nadella’s message points in the opposite direction.

Microsoft is still pursuing its vision of Copilot as a new “OS for work,” where AI is integrated across devices, business data, Office apps, meetings, collaboration tools, and software agents. The company says it has already built much of the product, engineering, and design foundation needed for that next phase.

The immediate question is whether this organizational change leads to a more cohesive Microsoft 365 experience. Users are already seeing Copilot appear in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, Windows, and the broader Microsoft 365 ecosystem. Microsoft’s leadership reshuffle could make those integrations move faster, particularly as AI agents become a more central part of business software.

Roslansky leaves behind a much larger LinkedIn business and a Microsoft 365 organization deeply focused on AI. His departure closes an important chapter for LinkedIn and Microsoft, but it also reinforces how seriously Nadella is restructuring the company around Copilot, agents, and the future of work.