Microsoft names Ohad Jassin to lead its Israel R&D center
Jassin will succeed Michal Braverman-Blumenstyk in November while continuing to run Microsoft's global sovereign cloud business within Azure.
Microsoft has appointed Ohad Jassin as managing director of its Israel R&D center, putting him in charge of one of the company's most important technology operations outside the United States as the company reshuffles its leadership in Israel.
Jassin will take over at the beginning of November from Michal Braverman-Blumenstyk, who is retiring from Microsoft after 13 years with the company, including six and a half years as head of its Israeli R&D operation. Jassin will continue in his existing role as a corporate vice president at Microsoft, where he leads the company's International Sovereign Clouds business within Azure Edge.
The appointment follows another significant change at Microsoft Israel. Nati Amsterdam, a longtime Nvidia executive, is set to become Microsoft's general manager in Israel in October, taking responsibility for sales and marketing operations in the country.
Microsoft's Israeli R&D organization operates across six locations in Herzliya, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Nazareth, Beersheba and Jerusalem. Its teams develop technologies and products that are used by Microsoft customers around the world.
Under Braverman-Blumenstyk, the operation more than doubled in size and expanded across those six sites. The center also became increasingly important to Microsoft's global AI and cybersecurity efforts.
Jassin has been at Microsoft since 2014 and has been involved in the expansion of the Israeli R&D organization during that period. The company said he established and grew product groups and businesses spanning cloud, AI, software and hardware that subsequently became part of Microsoft's global operations.
His background is somewhat different from that of a conventional research executive. Before joining Microsoft, Jassin spent about a decade at SAP, following five years at Israeli startups. His current Microsoft role is focused on sovereign cloud infrastructure, where he is responsible for the company's global strategy for National Partner Clouds and private cloud operations.
The transition marks the end of Braverman-Blumenstyk's long period at the center of Microsoft's Israeli technology operation. She joined the company to establish its Cloud Security group in Israel and later helped build Microsoft's cloud and AI security organization. She subsequently became CTO of the company's Security division.
Ales Holeček, Microsoft's president and chief architect of its Security division and executive sponsor of the Israel R&D Center, said the company remains committed to its Israeli development operation and expressed confidence that Jassin would continue advancing its AI, security and sovereignty platforms.
Jassin described the Israeli R&D center as his "professional home" for more than a decade and said its links with Israel's technology industry, academia and wider ecosystem would remain a foundation for its development.
