Thought Leadership
After nearly four years at the helm, Thomas Dohmke is leaving GitHub to “become a startup founder again”. Microsoft is using the change in leadership to completely realign the developer platform.
Dohmke leaves GitHub for new startup plans
In an internal memo to GitHub employees, Dohmke explained his decision: “GitHub and the leadership team will continue its mission as part of Microsoft’s CoreAI organization, with more details to follow soon.” The 44-year-old manager, who has led GitHub since 2021, will remain with the company until the end of 2025 to oversee the transition.
“I am leaving with a deep sense of pride in everything we have built as a remote-first organization spread around the world,” Dohmke said in his farewell letter. He did not provide any specific details about his planned startup activities. The timing comes as a surprise, as Dohmke had only last week made extensive comments about GitHub’s future strategy and the role of AI in software development.
Microsoft uses management change for realignment
Since its acquisition by Microsoft in 2018 for US$7.5 billion, GitHub has operated as an independent company within the group. With Dohmke’s resignation, Microsoft is fundamentally changing this structure: the CEO position will not be filled; instead, the group is fully integrating GitHub into its own organizational structure.
GitHub will become part of Microsoft’s CoreAI team, a new engineering group led by former Meta manager Jay Parikh. This organization includes Microsoft’s Platform and Tools Division and Dev Div teams and is focused on building an AI platform for Microsoft and its customers.
