Asha Sharma, who has just been appointed to lead Microsoft Gaming, told Variety in a recent interview that neural networks and similar AI technologies are now an inseparable part of the games industry. She characterized these tools as already embedded in development workflows and predicted they will continue to play a significant role going forward.
Sharma comes to the role after heading CoreAI, Microsoft’s artificial intelligence development group, a background that led many observers to expect she would accelerate the use of neural technologies across game development. She did not hide her enthusiasm for AI, but she was emphatic that quality matters: she said she "doesn't tolerate bad AI" and promised not to pursue short-term gains by flooding the Xbox ecosystem with what she called "soulless neural slop."
Her appointment follows the resignation of Phil Spencer, who stepped down on February 21. Spencer joined Microsoft in 1988 and had led the Xbox division since 2014, having been involved with console and game production even earlier in his career. In 2022 he was moved into the role of head of Microsoft Gaming before his recent departure.
Sharma’s combination of AI expertise and a public commitment to maintaining standards suggests Microsoft will continue experimenting with neural approaches in games while emphasizing careful curation and quality control for the Xbox platform.