Former Surface chief designer at Microsoft joins Amazon

Ralph Groen, former head of Windows and device design at Microsoft, has started a new job at Amazon.

Here's What We Know

Groen was responsible for the design of the Surface tablet, and worked closely with former Windows and Surface executive Panos Panayi to create the Surface line of devices over the past decade. Now they are working together again at Amazon to develop new devices.

Groen, who left Microsoft in April 2024, joined Amazon a few months after Panoia left the company to join Amazon as well. Groen will lead the design of the devices and services division at Amazon. His departure from Microsoft comes after Pavan Davuluri was appointed as the new head of Windows and Surface.

Along with Panayi, Groen was an important figure in the creation of the Surface line of devices. The original Surface tablet began with Groen's sketches, which later became the basis for 3D-printed prototypes held together with ropes. Microsoft launched the Surface RT tablet in 2012, and the Surface Pro was a milestone in the development of hybrid laptops.

Groen's arrival at Amazon comes a few months after Xbox co-founder Jay Allard joined Panay's team to work on new ideas. Allard left Microsoft in 2010 after working on the cancelled Courier tablet.

Amazon isn't just limited to Groen and Allard, recently former Windows Cloud executive, Aidan Marcus, also joined the company to lead the Fire TV, advertising and AppStore teams.

Source: The Verge, Ralf Groene on LinkedIn