Amazon confirms that Panos Panay will start as head of the Alexa department

Amazon confirms it has hired former Microsoft designer Panos Panay. The former chief product officer will join the company as responsible for Amazon’s speakers and voice devices.

Amazon confirms the previous rumors that Panos Panay will join the company. Amazon says he will lead the Devices & Services division there. He is responsible for designing smart speakers and other devices that incorporate the voice assistant Alexa. Amazon calls him ‘a great addition to the organization’ and a ‘passionate product leader’. Panay will start at the end of October and will take over Dave Limp’s role from January 1 next year.

Panos Panay was the chief product officer at Microsoft for many years. He started there in 2004 and was responsible for setting up the Surface hardware line. He has worked as CPO since 2018 and was therefore a familiar face during product presentations. There were already rumors earlier this month that Panay would go to Amazon. This happened shortly after the CEO announced that he was leaving Microsoft.