GitHub CEO to Exit Amid Microsoft Restructure
GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke announced Tuesday that he will step down later this year. Microsoft, which owns the platform, does not plan to search for a replacement. Dohmke is leaving to pursue entrepreneurial ventures.
“With more than 1B repos and forks, and over 150 million developers, GitHub has never been stronger than it is today,” Dohmke wrote in a blog post. “We have seen more open-source projects with more contributions every year. AI projects have doubled in the last year alone. And our presence in companies of any size is unmatched in the market.”
GitHub, acquired by Microsoft in 2018 for $7.5 billion, has largely operated independently. With Dohmke’s departure, it will now operate as part of Microsoft’s CoreAI group.
Microsoft Restructures GitHub Leadership
In a memo, Microsoft CoreAI head Jay Parikh outlined a new structure. GitHub leadership will report to several Microsoft executives. Julia Liuson, head of Microsoft’s Developer Division, will oversee revenue, engineering, and support. Earlier this year, Microsoft formed the CoreAI group under Parikh, who joined the senior leadership team in October.
Dohmke joined Microsoft in 2015 through the acquisition of his startup, HockeyApp. After Microsoft acquired GitHub in 2018, he became Chief Product Officer in 2021. A few months later, he succeeded Nat Friedman as CEO.
In a memo to employees, Dohmke said he’s leaving GitHub to “become a founder again.” He will stay at Microsoft until the end of the year to help guide the transition.
AI Growth and GitHub’s Strategic Role
Dohmke’s exit comes as Microsoft invests billions in artificial intelligence projects. GitHub remains a vital platform for developers to share code and collaborate. It has grown central to the open-source software movement due to its ease of use and wide reach.
The platform’s role in Microsoft’s strategy is critical, providing direct access to developers essential for the success of Windows, Azure, and AI tools. Competition is heating up, with Google, Cursor, Replit, and Windsurf racing to lead AI development tools. The rise of “vibe coding,” where code is generated from brief human prompts, adds to the momentum.
Under Dohmke’s leadership, GitHub doubled its user base and launched GitHub Copilot, an AI coding assistant. In January, it introduced a Copilot agent capable of handling programming tasks and notifying users once complete. GitHub now generates over $2 billion in annualized revenue.
