J Allard
Corporate Vice President, Design and Development, Entertainment and Devices Division
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A 15-year veteran of Microsoft, J Allard is the corporate vice president of Design and Development for the Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division. He oversees the Xbox game console as well as the Zune™ integrated music product family, which will launch later this year. With a strong vision for the future of connected entertainment, Allard’s quest is to use technology to narrow the gap between artists and their audiences and to provide consumers with new digital entertainment experiences.
Before his work on Zune, Allard has shipped over 30 products at Microsoft, helped shape the company’s Internet strategy and early products in the Internet space, and was a founding member of the Xbox, Windows NT and TCP/IP product families.
Allard holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Boston University and was recognized in 2003 as a Distinguished Alumnus, the highest honor the university confers on its alumni. Allard has been named one of The Hollywood Reporter’s Top 35 Entertainment Execs Under 35, dubbed a “Baby Bill” in Business 2.0, included in Details’ list of Most Powerful Men Under 38 and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leader program.
The first album Allard purchased was Kiss Alive! Although he can’t remember exactly how old he was when he bought this timeless double album, he does know it cost exactly $4.44. He has since had it autographed by the band, and he also owns it on 8-track, cassette and CD. In addition to Kiss, his Zune playlist includes everything from A.R.E. Weapons and Eagles of Death Metal to Atmosphere. He is looking forward to the upcoming CSS-Ladytron tour that Zune is sponsoring later this year.
