Google Cloud’s customer chief returns to Microsoft as head of security

Microsoft has a new head of security. Hayete Gallot, who left Microsoft in October 2024 to become the president of Google Cloud’s customer experience, is returning to the software giant as the executive vice president of security, reporting directly to CEO Satya Nadella.

The move means Charlie Bell, formerly Microsoft’s security chief, is taking on a new role at the company. “I’ve also asked Charlie Bell to take on a new role focused on engineering quality, reporting to me,” says Nadella, in an internal Microsoft memo. “Charlie and I have been planning this transition for some time, given his desire to move from being an org leader to being an IC engineer.”

Bell has spent nearly five years leading Microsoft’s security, compliance, and identity teams. The company has struggled with security in recent years, after a series of high-profile incidents rocked Microsoft. A scathing report from the Cyber Safety Review Board concluded in 2024 that “Microsoft’s security culture was inadequate and requires an overhaul.”

Microsoft set out on its largest ever security transformation months before the report was published, after Chinese hackers breached US government emails through a Microsoft Cloud exploit. The Secure Future Initiative (SFI) has been focused on improving Microsoft’s security record, and avoiding any future incident where nation-state attackers could spy on Microsoft’s senior leadership team. Microsoft is still working to win back trust in cybersecurity.

Gallot now takes on the efforts to continue SFI and ensure that Microsoft’s AI era is focused on security first. She previously spent nearly 16 years at Microsoft, with senior leadership roles across engineering and sales. “She brings an ethos that combines product building with value realization for customers, which is critical right now,” says Nadella.