Microsoft elevates Brad Smith to lead communications, moving PR to legal division

Microsoft has announced a significant internal reorganization, relocating its communications function from the marketing division into its Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs (CELA) group. The shift places Brad Smith, the company's vice chair and president, in direct oversight of communications as it searches for a permanent successor to Frank Shaw, the chief communications officer stepping down later this year.

Who's leading the change#

Brad Smith, widely recognized as a public-facing leader who regularly engages with governments, regulators, and major customers worldwide, takes on the expanded role. The restructuring removes communications from Chief Marketing Officer Takeshi Numoto's purview. Brent Colburn, the company's VP of global public affairs, has been named interim communications leader during the transition while the company evaluates both internal and external candidates for Shaw's permanent replacement.

Why Microsoft is making the move#

In an internal memo, CEO Satya Nadella characterized the media landscape as "increasingly fragmented and noisier than ever," signaling the need for a fresh strategic approach. The reorganization appears designed to integrate communications more tightly with legal and corporate affairs—a shift that reflects how some AI-focused competitors operate. As observed by industry outlets, firms like OpenAI and Anthropic position their researchers as primary storytellers, giving technical experts a central role in public-facing narratives.

Nadella emphasized his intent to empower employees throughout the organization, particularly engineers and product teams: "I'm excited about the opportunity to help our engineers, sellers, partners, and others closest to our products and customers become an even bigger part of how we tell our story." This suggests a move toward distributed, product-led communication rather than a purely centralized PR operation.

The broader context#

Shaw, who departs after nearly three decades with Microsoft, has been instrumental in shaping the company's communications through major transformations. His departure comes as Microsoft pursues its ambition to become "one of the top four labs in the world" in AI, according to AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman—a goal requiring not just technical breakthroughs but also sophisticated public positioning against competitors like Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI.