Marble was previously the Windows Insider Program Architect and says Microsoft will pursue making coding more accessible. His first action has been to create Microsoft Dev Circles, which Marbles describes as an “evolution of Cohorts”. As an Insider Program feature, Marble is well aware of Cohorts, which is designed to create better user feedback. “No surprise, we’ll start with Insiders… there are 10-plus million of them around the world. We think ALL of them should learn to code. We believe that code is this generation’s literacy,” explained Marble. Marble said Dev Circles will start in a few cities before Microsoft will give tools to driver independent growth in learning. Insiders will push the company’s goal to ensure coding becomes part of everyday life for billions of people. When Cohorts was launched, Windows Insider Program chief Dona Sarkar said Microsoft was changing feedback. The company wants a broader review of the program. “Feedback generally comes in two forms,” she said. “There’s ‘this is broken, fix it’; and ‘we don’t have this, build it.”
Top-Level Appointments
Microsoft has been making several executive changes this year. Back in February, the company named former IBM veteran Lindsay-Rae McIntyre as its new Diversity Chief. As CDO at Microsoft, McIntyre will push the company’s current organization-wide initiatives to create a diverse and inclusive environment. As well as internal management, the executive will be tasked with building collaborations with outside companies to advance diversity in the tech industry as a whole.
