Nicole Forsgren, PhD to move from Google Cloud to new role as VP of Research & Strategy at Microsoft’s GitHub

Nicole Forsgren, a PhD, author, and former CEO of DORA (DevOps Research and Assessment, which was acquired by Google last year, is taking on a new role at Microsoft, as VP of Research and Strategy at GitHub. In a post on her blog, Forsgren describes what she’ll be doing next (after “after a short break to enjoy some naps, Diet Coke, and ice cream”):

At GitHub, I will expand and continue investigating developer happiness and productivity while also helping the industry get better, and there’s no better place to ask these questions because GitHub is truly at the heart of software development for so many communities. Here, I can bring the research closer to the tools that we use and build on the foundation of knowledge that exists while asking different questions, from different angles, and surfacing different insights. I am excited to continue talking with and learning from developers, testers, IT ops, infosec, and executives to understand their work; working with tools teams across the ecosystem to understand their challenges and what they see so we can help make things better; nerding out with researchers and makers across the industry and academia so we can partner to find interesting questions (and ways to ask and frame and think about those questions), supporting each other and collaborating on solutions.

There’s always some back and forth between big tech companies, but this looks to be a big get for Microsoft and GitHub. So far, Microsoft has been fairly hands-off with GitHub, a favorite for developer collaboration, but it’s good to see the company bring on this level of talent to move it forward.