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Microsoft Cortana chief to depart after less than a year in charge

Javier Soltero began running Cortana in March.

Abrar Al-Heeti Technology Reporter
Abrar Al-Heeti is a technology reporter for CNET, with an interest in phones, streaming, internet trends, entertainment, pop culture and digital accessibility. She's also worked for CNET's video, culture and news teams. She graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Though Illinois is home, she now loves San Francisco -- steep inclines and all.
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Cortana head Javier Soltero is leaving Microsoft, reportedly by the end of the year.

 Taylor Martin/CNET

Cortana's corporate vice president, Javier Soltero, is leaving Microsoft after four years with the company, he tweeted on Tuesday.  

"I've made the decision to leave Microsoft," Soltero wrote. "The past 4 years have been an incredible experience. I'm humbled to have been a part of building something that 100M+ users depend on every day and grateful to have worked with some amazing people."

Soltero will leave the company by the end of the year, according to ZDNet, and return to entrepreneurial work. He joined Microsoft in 2014 when the company bought email startup Acompli, which he co-founded. Soltero led Outlook and Outlook Mobile, and was later head of strategy for Office. He began running Cortana in March. 

Microsoft has been working to shift Cortana from a standalone assistant into an "assistance aide" in the age of Amazon's Alexa , Google's Assistant and Apple's Siri . In August, Microsoft and Amazon launched a long-awaited collaboration between Cortana and Alexa. 

Microsoft didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.