Microsoft ends January with double leadership change

The new appointments come as the company just shared its Q2 FY25 results

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From left to right: Ralph Haupter and Samer Abu-Ltaif

Microsoft’s Ralph Haupter has announced his transition to president of small, medium enterprises and channel (SME&C), with Samer Abu-Ltaif replacing him as president of EMEA.

Haupter announced the leadership change in a LinkedIn post.

“Today, I am thrilled to announce that starting 1 February, I will be leading the newly formed SME&C organisation at Microsoft.

“In my new capacity, I look forward to seeing the continued success of the EMEA team under Samer’s leadership and to working alongside him and the EMEA leadership team as we continue leading AI transformation for our customers and partners.”

The new president SME&C joined the US vendor in 2005 as GM of small and midmarket solutions & partners group for Microsoft Europe.

He then went on to take on various international leadership roles within the company, such as both COO and CEO of Germany, CEO and chairman of Greater China, and president of Asia.

Haupter eventually became president of EMEA, a position he assumed for almost five years, “a period marked by unprecedented innovation and customer impact,” according to him.

Taking over is Samer Abu-Ltaif, who’s served as Microsoft’s CEMA corporate VP for the last two years.

Abu-Ltaif joined the company 11 years ago as GM of North Gulf, before going through various other leadership roles across EMEA, such as president of Middle East and Africa.

His IT journey began in 1989 in an entry-level role in sales and marketing at NCR Corporation – now separated into NCR Voyix and NCR Atleos -, where he stayed for almost 15 years.

“As I embark on this journey, I have the privilege of representing this incredible region where technological innovation is reshaping industries,” wrote Abu-Ltaif on LinkedIn.

“We are committed to leading with purpose and integrity to support our customers in reshaping their businesses by leveraging our Cloud and AI capabilities.”

These changes come as Microsoft just released its results for Q2 FY25, reporting $69.6bn (£56.08bn) in revenue for this quarter, a 12 per cent increase year-on-year ($62bn in Q2 FY24).

In the UK, the Washington-based vendor also recently made major shifts to its leadership team, with the appointment of Darren Hardman as CEO of Microsoft UK in October 2024.