14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has just signed another high-profile executive working for a rival company, this time coming from Canadian mobile phone maker BlackBerry.
Alec Saunders, who previously worked for Microsoft between 1992 and 2000, will come back to the Redmond-based tech giant to join the Microsoft Ventures team. His previous tenure at Microsoft includes work on Internet Explorer, Windows, and other consumer-oriented products.
At BlackBerry, Saunders served as Vice President of Developer Relations, while previously he worked as Vice President of QNX Cloud at QNX Software.
In a post on his blog, Saunders reveals that he decided to take over the role of Principal Technical Evangelist at Microsoft, so he no longer works for BlackBerry since Monday. He will report directly to Steven Guggenheimer and will focus specifically on the Canadian business, he says.
“I’m part of the global Microsoft Ventures team. And we run programs, like the Microsoft Ventures Accelerators, that are focused on helping early stage companies achieve their full potential,” he adds.
Obviously, Saunders used the blog post to express his love for Microsoft, pointing out that his previous adventure at the company “provided some of the most enduring lessons of my career,” including campaign mechanics, management, culture, scale, and execution.
We're still waiting for an official press release coming from Microsoft, but since the move already came into effect on Monday, the tech giant might not plan to release any other news on this.