Kurt D DelBene

Kurt DelBene is a technology executive that spent the bulk of his career as a senior executive at Microsoft. He retired from Microsoft in September of 2021 as Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy, Core Services Engineering and Operations, leading the company’s cross-engineering and cross-business strategy, execution, and planning initiatives. DelBene, previously president of the Microsoft Office Division, rejoined Microsoft in April 2015 after joining the Obama-Biden Administration to lead improvement work on Healthcare.gov, the enrollment website for the Affordable Care Act. From December 2013 to July 2014, in his work on Healthcare.gov as senior advisor to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, DelBene helped assess and implement the path through the first Open Enrollment period, including troubleshooting issues encountered along the way, and setting the project up for long-term success. Prior to joining Microsoft, DelBene was a management consultant with McKinsey and Company, focusing on business strategy for technology companies. He has also worked as a software developer and systems engineer for AT&T Bell Laboratories, working in graphics and imaging software and network switching systems. DelBene holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago, a Master of Science degree from Stanford University, and a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering from the University of Arizona. DelBene is Microsoft’s chief digital officer and executive vice president of corporate strategy and the Core Services Engineering and Operations group. He looks after Microsoft’s internal technology and its strategy, keeps track of competitive issues and explores potential business opportunities. He joined Microsoft in 1992 from McKinsey, where he had been a management consultant, and eventually rose to be president of Microsoft’s Office division. DelBene is considered a founder of Office 365, a core part of Microsoft’s modern cloud push. He was previously general manager for Outlook and group program manager for Exchange. The BBC once described DelBene as “the man behind the PowerPoint presentations.” In 2013 he retired from Microsoft as part of a Microsoft reorganization. Months later President Obama asked him to help fix Healthcare.gov. In 2015 DelBene returned to Microsoft on Nadella’s request. He led Office when Microsoft was building the software to make Office apps work on Apple’s iPad -- an initiative that Ballmer was lukewarm about, but that Nadella brought to fruition when he took over. In 2012 his wife, Suzan DelBene, a former Microsoft executive herself, became a U.S. representative for Washington’s 1st Congressional district.