We are Hiring at Microsoft AI
Since reflecting on one year at Microsoft almost 12 months ago, a lot has changed. Most visibly to the outside world, we’ve completely re-designed and re-engineered our Copilot consumer app from the ground up with a a craft- and quality-first mentality.
Every element moves more gracefully, every response loads much faster, and every detail is more considered. Copilot may be the tip of the spear when it comes to how we are thinking about our products over the next decade, but we’ve also begun to modernize Edge, Bing, and our news offerings. We are just getting started.
Here is a preview of a feature we are working on for Edge that allows you to co-browse the internet with your AI companion. It’s the most powerful addition to the web browser since video:
We aren’t just adding to Edge, but we are also — just as importantly — subtracting from it. Although Edge has grown browser share consistently for several years now, we’ve also grown our feature set a little too aggressively. Every so often, you have to step back from the bonsai tree, look at it from all sides, and prune. The Edge of tomorrow will be both simpler and more powerful than it is today.
Same deal over on Bing. We are pruning away old growth to make room for better-looking, more powerful search results:
There is a lot more going on in Microsoft AI as well, including a bunch of new things we are cooking up for MSN:
If you’re interested in joining the Microsoft AI team, we have a number of positions open right now that I’ve listed at the bottom of this post. If we already know each other, please reach out directly.
I mentioned in my last post a year ago how there were a lot of processes we needed to improve in the coming months. I detailed an unbroken chain of 8 steps for great products to emerge:
- An idea that can improve lives if executed well.
- Foundational research to light the path before design and coding begin.
- Rich design explorations and prototyping to make the experience palpable.
- Buy-in to build it at a level of quality that makes the team proud.
- Impeccable UX engineering and UX writing to make sure every detail is dialed.
- Well-conceived server-side engineering to make it scalable and maintainable.
- Creative marketing to prime people for the experience.
- … and finally, maybe more important that anything else on this list, the will to keep refining relentlessly after the experience is launched. This part is so often neglected as companies rush to build more things.
Although we are still in the first inning of this journey, I’m happy with the progress we’ve made across the board… in particular, steps 4 and 8. There is a different energy when everyone who is working on the product knows the standard is not “good”, not “better than our competitors”, but “the best version imaginable”. We are not there yet with any of our products, but there is no confusion where the bar is.
Reorienting our cross-functional teams to prioritize user experience has been a gratifying (and ongoing!) challenge. The vast majority of companies are not set up this way for a variety of reasons, some good, and some bad. In some industries, surviving might mostly about cost minimization, and not user experience. In other industries, “good enough” might be all people expect or need. But in just about all companies, there is some form of diminishing returns when it comes to how much time is spent getting every detail just right. The question is: where does a company draw the line?
One sign your company draws the line too low is if people insist that every detail, no matter how esthetic, be rigorously tested in order to prove it is instantly metrics-positive. This is a sign of a culture that rejects the value of taste and long-term vision.
Does that mean you should test nothing? Of course not. You should test everything, at the very least, to prevent accidentally messing something up. I still remember more than 20 years ago, during my first week at ESPN, causing our entire front page to disappear because I forgot a semicolon in a Javascript file. Testing for safety and information, though, is different than testing as religion. Furthermore, there are some things — particularly in the world of large language model training — that should absolutely follow a cycle of train/test/release/repeat.
Culturally speaking, this rebalancing of our values has created a spark for great work to emerge. Many of the same people who have been working on Bing, Edge, MSN, and Copilot for years simply have a new set of product-building principles now, in addition to some great new teammates and refreshingly smaller, evenly staffed cross-functional teams. It’s been wonderful seeing everyone exercise muscles that show up more often in startups and creative agencies than in 49-year old tech companies. The ingredients have been here all along, but the recipe is changing.
Speaking of ingredients, we are looking for more Designers and User Researchers to join the team at Microsoft AI.
These positions are United States only, Redmond-preferred, but we’ll also consider the Bay Area and other locations:
- Principal UX Researcher
- Design Director – News & Interests
- Principal Designer – News & Interests
- Senior Designer – News & Interests
- Principal Designer – Consumer Advertising
- Principal Designer – Growth
- Senior Designer – Growth
- Principal Designer – Rewards
- Principal Designer – Design Systems
These positions are specifically in our lovely Mountain View office:
Note that we are looking mainly for experienced, hands-on individual contributors to join our team. If inventing the design patterns for the next phase of the consumer internet sounds right up your alley, we’d love to talk to you.
Hey Mike,
My name is Daniel, and I am a UX Designer, Prototyper, and Researcher with a passion for crafting innovative, user-centered experiences. Your recent blog post about the exciting developments at Microsoft AI deeply resonated with me, especially your focus on creating best-in-class products through cross-functional collaboration and relentless refinement.
While I noticed the roles listed are geared toward senior professionals, I would be thrilled to explore opportunities, whether as an intern, junior designer, or researcher, to contribute to the innovative work your team is undertaking. I am particularly excited about the potential to help shape the future of products like Edge, Bing, and Copilot, that shape the lives of millions of users drawing from my background in prototyping AI-powered interfaces and designing context-aware solutions.
During my internship at Apple, I worked on impactful projects such as studies for Apple Vision Pro and features like iMessage via Satellite. These experiences allowed me to combine foundational research with cutting-edge prototyping, which I believe aligns with your team’s vision for the future of AI-driven design.
Thank you for taking the time to read my note. I would love the opportunity to discuss how my skills and experience could align with your team’s goals now or in the future.
Best,
Daniel
Very exciting and interesting!! I would love to be part of it!
Step 9. A leader who consistently places big bets on his/her people, even and especially when it challenges the status quo
Phenomenal work! So happy to see it rewarded with additional headcount. Gooooooo GROWTH!!!
Miss you guys
I love that your post led to this page… as opposed to the careers page. This should be a best practice for any posting. Seeing the cool work you’ve compiled here is super inspiring and motivating. Could make the difference between some applying and not applying. I’m in the former group. Thanks!
Hello! Your message of best version imaginable really resonates with me. Would you consider canidates in NYC? Several of my friends and I are looking for work, and are already well connected to Microsoft people because we host data science meetups at your buildings regularly. They often speak at our events, and are parts of our boards and committees.
Hey Mike! I am a junior computer engineering student at Clemson University. I understand that I might not have the exact qualifications, but as you said in your first line of this article, a lot can change in a year! My goal is to be a software engineer at Microsoft post-graduation, and if there are any intern opportunities available in your domain. I would love to know more. Thanks for sharing the news.
Hi Mike,
As a curious design enthusiast, I’ve been diligently following Microsoft’s re-design journey over the last year. Are there any openings in NYC soon? I’d love to have an opportunity to be an integral part of re-imagining and crafting a new experience with the Microsoft AI team.
Hello Mike
I truly resonate with your post, and it’s the first time I’ve seen a job post on a personal webpage. First of all, this is a really interesting way to showcase the amazing work being done on Microsoft products, specifically Edge.
I am based out of Redmond, currently working for Optum, designing their products revolving around senior care. I bring over 8 years of experience designing complex systems and workflows across CRM, internal tools, and digital libraries. I specialize in crafting interaction patterns, solving ambiguous design challenges, and building user-centered solutions through systems thinking. I have a strong background in prototyping and excel at creating interactive prototypes using React and Figma.
I have hands-on AI experience at the University of Washington, having built small models to track yoga poses. I am also planning to implement a RAG model on top of my portfolio. In short, I am well acquainted with features that can be built around AI. I am really passionate about dynamic interfaces and recommendation systems.
I would love to talk and learn more about what’s happening in your teams. Please reach out if you find this interesting.
Hi Mike, I am Savani. I came across your article on Microsoft AI, and it deeply resonated with my professional journey and passion for innovation. I’m eager to learn more about the Senior UX Designer role and explore how my experience can contribute to your team’s mission.
Having worked with multiple AI startups and mid-sized companies, I’ve had the opportunity to merge foundational research with forward-thinking prototyping, shaping impactful user experiences. I’m thrilled at the prospect of bringing this expertise to Microsoft and collaborating with a team shaping the future of AI-driven design.
I’d love to connect and discuss how I can contribute to your team’s vision!
Thank you,
Savani
Hi Mike,
I’m truly inspired by your post and the thoughtfulness behind Microsoft AI’s approach to product development and hiring. It’s refreshing to see such a strong focus on crafting best-in-class experiences through cross-functional collaboration and a relentless commitment to refinement.
As a UX and Product Designer with over 5 years of experience creating end-to-end user-centered solutions across multiple products, I am particularly excited about the opportunity to contribute to this vision. My work has included building scalable design systems, conducting in-depth user research, and designing responsive web and mobile interfaces in fast-paced, cross-functional environments. I’ve been drawn to Microsoft’s design ethos for some time, and the role of Senior Designer – Growth feels like a perfect fit for my background and skills.
I’d love to connect and explore how I could contribute to the incredible work being done at Microsoft AI.
Thank you for sharing this insightful post and for opening the door to such exciting opportunities!
Hi Mike, I’ve been working on large scale real-time data and AI projects for about 8 years, my first one was the digital billboard at Morgan Stanley HQ in Times Square, through to an immersive sailing environment for Emirates sailing team, processing 2,000 trillion calculations per second.
Hello Mike,
So glad you directed us here; This resonates well – and I’m definitely going to try out Hellenika ice cream at Pike Place now :)
I do wonder though:
for all the intentionality and research work we want to bring to the design of AI-native apps, I notice companies wanting to move really fast too – reasonably, since the AI landscape also shifts super fast. How then, do you help rally around it all? What must crawl with thought and what must sprint?
I’m a Product Designer pusuing my Masters in Human-Centered Design at the University of Washington (Seattle!!) and interned at Intuit this Summer. I’d be super interested in working in your team, and would be thrilled to chat.
portfolio: https://www.raghavsharma.work/ (pass: sunlight )
Hi Mike,
I’m excited that Microsoft has opened new roles to build next-generation product experiences. I’ve always believed that AI systems should be as dynamic as the products they support. The challenge of crafting scalable product solutions for AI tools that adapt to users’ global and unique needs is something I’ve tackled head-on in my work at Intuit.
I’ve applied and would be grateful for the opportunity to discuss how my experience could align with Microsoft’s vision
Hi Mike,
I’m interested in contributing to Microsoft AI. I have been fine-tuning models of my own with a UX Research approach for the best AI-Human interaction experience. I love connecting UX with AI. I would love to bring my skillset to your team.
Thank you for this inspiring, thoughtful post Mike and for sharing these exciting opportunity at Microsoft AI! As someone passionate about crafting innovative and user-centered designs, I am highly interested in contributing to your team’s mission of shaping the future of AI.
Your focus on building products that redefine how users interact with technology deeply resonates with me. With 5 years of experience in UX design—leading end-to-end design processes, conducting research, and iterating on designs post-launch—I am confident in my ability to add value to your team.
I would love the opportunity to connect and learn more and how I can contribute.
Thanks!
Hi there! I am definitely not an experienced designer YET, but I was wondering if there are any other opportunities I could be a part of as an entry-level new grad looking for design roles! I would appreciate any tips or direction as I navigate the start of my design journey :)
Hi Mike,
I’m excited about the opportunity to contribute to Microsoft AI! As an Ex-IBMer, my career has taken me from industry leaders like Meta and Google to innovative disruptors like Hypergiant Industries, where I’ve gained hands-on experience tackling some crazy complex challenges. Recently, I even patented an AI/XR concept with IBM.
Now, I’m ready to dive into my next adventure and help create something truly groundbreaking together. Let’s make history!