Xiaoyan Zhao

Co-CTO of Microsoft Asia Pacific R&D Group | R&D GM of Microsoft Cloud and AI China | GM of  Microsoft DevDiv China

Dr. Xiaoyan Zhao focuses on Microsoft Cloud and AI technology R&D in China, serving global innovation. She provides leadership to Microsoft ARD’s mission, vision, strategy, and programs to promote innovation and technology transfer, strengthen collaboration with local partners and open-source communities, and cultivate cross-industry cooperation.

Dr. Zhao leads her team to build state-of-the-art developer experiences on Azure, advancing best practices for working in VS Code Java and Java application. Her team delivers PaaS (Azure Spring Apps, Java EE on Azure, Java End to End on Azure), develops managed application platform services such as Azure SignalR Service, Azure Web PubSub and Azure Service Connector for Azure applications. The team also develops app tooling for Microsoft Teams and app compliance tooling for Microsoft 365.

Since joining Microsoft in 2008, Dr. Zhao has served in management roles, steering the development of system software products and cloud services that range from SQL database, business intelligence (BI) software, e-commerce platforms, and development tools. Dr. Zhao’s years of practice in software engineering and team management have served to enrich Microsoft’s product R&D, strategic direction, partnership with the local ecosystem, internal culture, and talent development.

Before joining Microsoft, Dr. Zhao worked at IBM in Canada, where she played a pivotal role releasing IBM’s DB2 Linux Enterprise Extended Edition. After that, she worked for Sybase, as a founding member of the Sybase Shanghai R&D Center and serving as its inaugural director, as well as served in a position leading the development and testing team at Business Object in China, where she was responsible for the R&D of the company’s flagship product, Crystal Reports.

Dr. Zhao holds a bachelor’s degree in electronic engineering from Tsinghua University, China, and a PhD in computer science from McGill University, Canada.