Kevin Scott (born 1972) is an American technology executive who has served as chief technology officer (CTO) at Microsoft since January 2017. He previously held senior engineering roles at Google, AdMob, and LinkedIn, where he was credited with scaling the company's systems around its initial public offering. At Microsoft, Scott has overseen the company's artificial intelligence infrastructure, including its partnership with OpenAI and the development of Microsoft Azure AI services.
Scott grew up in Gladys, Virginia, and earned a bachelor's degree in computer science from Lynchburg College and a master's degree from Wake Forest University. He began a doctoral program at the University of Virginia but left in 2003 to join the technology industry.
Early Career and Google
Scott started his career at Google in 2003 after leaving graduate school. During his tenure, he worked in search and ads engineering, holding numerous positions and receiving a Google Founders' Award for his contributions. He remained at Google until 2007, when he departed to join AdMob, a mobile advertising startup, as vice president of engineering and operations.
At AdMob, Scott helped build the company's mobile ad platform during a period of rapid growth in smartphone adoption. Google acquired AdMob in 2010 for $750 million, and Scott transitioned to a role as senior engineering director of mobile ads engineering at Google, where he worked until early 2011.
In February 2011, Scott joined LinkedIn as senior vice president of engineering. LinkedIn held its initial public offering in May 2011, and Scott was tasked with scaling the company's computer systems to handle surging user growth and traffic. His work earned recognition from Business Insider, which called him "the engineer who saved LinkedIn" for his role in maintaining service reliability during the company's expansion.
Scott remained at LinkedIn until January 2017, overseeing engineering and operations as the platform grew to hundreds of millions of members. He left the role shortly after Microsoft completed its acquisition of LinkedIn in December 2016.
Microsoft CTO
In January 2017, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella named Scott as the company's chief technology officer. Scott retained the title of senior vice president of infrastructure at LinkedIn until September 2017, then focused fully on Microsoft's technical strategy. He described the transition as feeling "like a kid in a candy store" due to the breadth of technologies under development at the company.
As CTO, Scott has been a central figure in Microsoft's Artificial intelligence initiatives. He helped forge the company's multi-billion-dollar partnership with OpenAI beginning in 2019, which gave Microsoft access to Large language model technologies and led to the integration of AI features across its products. Scott has also championed the construction of specialized Microsoft Azure infrastructure, including supercomputers designed for training Neural network models, and has overseen investments in AMD, NVIDIA, and other chip suppliers to support AI workloads.
Scott has been an advocate for democratizing access to AI tools and has spoken publicly about the importance of building AI systems that serve broad populations. He has also emphasized the need for responsible development of Generative AI technologies.
Nonprofits and Boards
Scott founded Behind the Tech, a nonprofit organization that profiles technology workers through photographs and interviews to inspire others. In 2014, he and his wife, Shannon Hunt-Scott, created The Scott Foundation, a San Francisco Bay Area organization focused on education, hunger, and STEM programs for children.
He is an emeritus trustee of the Anita Borg Institute and was a founding member of the ACM Professions Board. Scott advises several startups, serves on the board of directors for Magic, and is an angel investor. Since January 17, 2021, he has been a non-executive director on the board of Stellantis, the automobile manufacturer, and a member of its ESG Committee.
Personal Life and Works
Scott is married with two children and lives in Los Gatos, California. In 2020, he co-authored the book "Reprogramming the American Dream: From Rural America to Silicon Valley - Making AI Serve Us All" with Greg Shaw, published by Harper Business. The book draws on Scott's upbringing in rural Virginia and his career in technology to argue for broader participation in the AI economy.