GitHub head ankles as Microsoft takes biz by the hand
(2025/08/11)
- Reference: 1754936798
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/08/11/github_head_ankles_as_microsoft/
- Source link:
GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke plans to leave the company and corporate parent Microsoft will not appoint a successor.
Dohmke assumed the position back in November 2021, replacing Nat Friedman, who helmed the code hosting biz since Microsoft [1]acquired it for $7.5 billion in 2018.
In a public [2]post of an internal memo sent to staff on Monday, Dohmke bid goodbye, citing the desire to work on founding another company.
[3]
"GitHub and its leadership team will continue its mission as part of Microsoft’s CoreAI organization, with more details shared soon," he said. "I’ll be staying through the end of 2025 to help guide the transition and am leaving with a deep sense of pride in everything we’ve built as a remote-first organization spread around the world."
[4]
[5]
The CoreAI group [6]formed in January under EVP Jay Parikh .
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, at the time, cited the need to build out Microsoft's AI platform and tools for running AI apps and agents. He cited [7]GitHub Copilot as one of the group's areas of focus, but he didn't make clear that this meant decapitating the subsidiary by leaving it without a chief executive.
[8]
Under the CoreAI group, GitHub will almost certainly operate with less independence, though Redmond has not made details public yet. The biz had an annual run rate of $2 billion per [9]Microsoft's 2024 Q4 results . That year, GitHub Copilot subscriptions accounted for 40 percent of the subsidiary's revenue growth.
[10]Californian man so furious about forced Windows 11 upgrade that he's suing Microsoft
[11]Deepfake detectors are slowly coming of age, at a time of dire need
[12]Ex-White House cyber, counter-terrorism guru: Microsoft considers security an annoyance, not a necessity
[13]German security researchers say 'Windows Hell No' to Microsoft biometrics for biz
GitHub Copilot has 20 million users, Dohmke said, up from 15 million [14]three months ago . That's both paid and non-paying users. When the biz last reported paid Copilot subscribers in [15]Q2 2024 , just 1.3 million were paying customers.
According to [16]Axios , Julia Liuson, who runs Microsoft's developer division, will manage GitHub revenue, engineering, and support. And Mario Rodriguez, GitHub chief product officer, will report to Asha Sharma, VP of Microsoft AI platform.
Sharma in a [17]post to LinkedIn praised Dohmke and said she's excited to work with Parikh, Liuson, Rodriguez, and the GitHub leadership team to continue the work of delivering a great developer experience.
"Code is becoming the primary artifact of work in the digital economy — the blueprint for products, services, and experiences," she said. "As AI agents take on more of the writing, reviewing, and committing of code, the role of developers – and the importance of coding itself – will only grow."
[18]
Except at Microsoft, where the role of developers is somewhat diminished after [19]15,000 job cuts this year . We reached out to Microsoft for comment and will update this article if we receive a response. ®
Get our [20]Tech Resources
[1] https://news.microsoft.com/source/2018/06/04/microsoft-to-acquire-github-for-7-5-billion/
[2] https://github.blog/news-insights/company-news/goodbye-github/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aJpn-FKwEP6FaQtMSQRDAgAAAJA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aJpn-FKwEP6FaQtMSQRDAgAAAJA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aJpn-FKwEP6FaQtMSQRDAgAAAJA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2025/01/13/introducing-core-ai-platform-and-tools/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/13/microsoft_corea_team_reorg/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aJpn-FKwEP6FaQtMSQRDAgAAAJA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/investor/events/fy-2024/earnings-fy-2024-q4
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/11/microsoft_sued_over_premature_windows/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/11/deepfake_detectors_fraud/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/08/exwhite_house_cyber_and_counterterrorism/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/07/windows_hello_hell_no/
[14] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ashtom_today-we-announced-in-microsoft-earnings-activity-7323461784340738051-gbMM/
[15] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/investor/events/fy-2024/earnings-fy-2024-q2
[16] https://www.axios.com/2025/08/11/github-ceo-dohmke-step-down
[17] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aboutasha_today-i-want-to-celebrate-my-friend-and-activity-7360694187991683072-b6Rj
[18] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aJpn-FKwEP6FaQtMSQRDAgAAAJA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/25/microsoft_ceo_job_cuts/
[20] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Dohmke assumed the position back in November 2021, replacing Nat Friedman, who helmed the code hosting biz since Microsoft [1]acquired it for $7.5 billion in 2018.
In a public [2]post of an internal memo sent to staff on Monday, Dohmke bid goodbye, citing the desire to work on founding another company.
[3]
"GitHub and its leadership team will continue its mission as part of Microsoft’s CoreAI organization, with more details shared soon," he said. "I’ll be staying through the end of 2025 to help guide the transition and am leaving with a deep sense of pride in everything we’ve built as a remote-first organization spread around the world."
[4]
[5]
The CoreAI group [6]formed in January under EVP Jay Parikh .
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, at the time, cited the need to build out Microsoft's AI platform and tools for running AI apps and agents. He cited [7]GitHub Copilot as one of the group's areas of focus, but he didn't make clear that this meant decapitating the subsidiary by leaving it without a chief executive.
[8]
Under the CoreAI group, GitHub will almost certainly operate with less independence, though Redmond has not made details public yet. The biz had an annual run rate of $2 billion per [9]Microsoft's 2024 Q4 results . That year, GitHub Copilot subscriptions accounted for 40 percent of the subsidiary's revenue growth.
[10]Californian man so furious about forced Windows 11 upgrade that he's suing Microsoft
[11]Deepfake detectors are slowly coming of age, at a time of dire need
[12]Ex-White House cyber, counter-terrorism guru: Microsoft considers security an annoyance, not a necessity
[13]German security researchers say 'Windows Hell No' to Microsoft biometrics for biz
GitHub Copilot has 20 million users, Dohmke said, up from 15 million [14]three months ago . That's both paid and non-paying users. When the biz last reported paid Copilot subscribers in [15]Q2 2024 , just 1.3 million were paying customers.
According to [16]Axios , Julia Liuson, who runs Microsoft's developer division, will manage GitHub revenue, engineering, and support. And Mario Rodriguez, GitHub chief product officer, will report to Asha Sharma, VP of Microsoft AI platform.
Sharma in a [17]post to LinkedIn praised Dohmke and said she's excited to work with Parikh, Liuson, Rodriguez, and the GitHub leadership team to continue the work of delivering a great developer experience.
"Code is becoming the primary artifact of work in the digital economy — the blueprint for products, services, and experiences," she said. "As AI agents take on more of the writing, reviewing, and committing of code, the role of developers – and the importance of coding itself – will only grow."
[18]
Except at Microsoft, where the role of developers is somewhat diminished after [19]15,000 job cuts this year . We reached out to Microsoft for comment and will update this article if we receive a response. ®
Get our [20]Tech Resources
[1] https://news.microsoft.com/source/2018/06/04/microsoft-to-acquire-github-for-7-5-billion/
[2] https://github.blog/news-insights/company-news/goodbye-github/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aJpn-FKwEP6FaQtMSQRDAgAAAJA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aJpn-FKwEP6FaQtMSQRDAgAAAJA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aJpn-FKwEP6FaQtMSQRDAgAAAJA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2025/01/13/introducing-core-ai-platform-and-tools/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/13/microsoft_corea_team_reorg/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aJpn-FKwEP6FaQtMSQRDAgAAAJA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/investor/events/fy-2024/earnings-fy-2024-q4
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/11/microsoft_sued_over_premature_windows/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/11/deepfake_detectors_fraud/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/08/exwhite_house_cyber_and_counterterrorism/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/07/windows_hello_hell_no/
[14] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ashtom_today-we-announced-in-microsoft-earnings-activity-7323461784340738051-gbMM/
[15] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/investor/events/fy-2024/earnings-fy-2024-q2
[16] https://www.axios.com/2025/08/11/github-ceo-dohmke-step-down
[17] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aboutasha_today-i-want-to-celebrate-my-friend-and-activity-7360694187991683072-b6Rj
[18] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aJpn-FKwEP6FaQtMSQRDAgAAAJA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/25/microsoft_ceo_job_cuts/
[20] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: More enshitification I see....
ecofeco
It was a dead man walking the day M$ bought it.
Was he fired for underusing AI in his job?
O'Reg Inalsin
Just a few days ago this was news - “Either you embrace AI, or you get out of this career.” That single, blunt line from GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke has stirred the developer community and sparked a critical conversation about the future of software engineering.
Re: Was he fired for underusing AI in his job?
Anonymous Coward
It makes a great headline (for those outlets that reported it that way) but is not exactly what [1]Dohmke wrote (missing one bit of context):
“Either you have to embrace the Al, or you get out of your career” one developer said.
He's quoting a developer to make his argument about his perception that A I will be key to the future of coding.
And his Stages 1-4 (skeptic, explorer, collaborator, strategist) are likely all wrong ... (I'd say). His post is just another sales pitch.
[1] https://ashtom.github.io/developers-reinvented
Rub-ish
elsergiovolador
Push some odd things to your private repos and then ask AI prompts that could reveal it if AI was trained on it.
Alternatively, push some rubbish the worse code it learns on, the better for the humanity.
What is it comes after embrace, extend... ?
steelpillow
Right, I'll just upload this supercool privacy patch to my GitHub repos.
"I'm sorry Dave, I can't let you do that!"
More enshitification I see....
Github is great at first, but eventually you find where they stopped working on it and discover that literally nobody seems to still work there... at least not on github. I suppose AI and code is a hot thing and all, but it would be nice if they first fixed the actual platform up to the level their 'enterprise' subscription seems to imply it operates at first.