In a separate memo, Microsoft CoreAI head Jay Parikh revealed a new leadership setup that will split GitHub’s reporting lines among several Microsoft executives. Microsoft developer division head Julia Liuson will now oversee GitHub’s revenue, engineering and support, while GitHub chief product officer Mario Rodriguez will report to Microsoft AI platform vice-president Asha Sharma.

Vole's acquisition of GitHub seven years ago was seen as an olive branch to the open source world it once considered a cancer. It was officially part of Vole, but with Dohmke at the helm, not much changed.

Now, with generative AI at the centre of the software industry, GitHub has become a vital hub for developers and a key plank in Microsoft’s campaign to cram AI copilots into everything it sells.

In his farewell note, Dohmke insisted the platform is thriving. He said: “With more than 1B repos and forks, and over 150 million developers, GitHub has never been stronger than it is today. Because of your relentless work, GitHub Copilot has introduced the greatest change to software development since the advent of the personal computer.”

Parikh said the GitHub leadership team will “continue to shape the path ahead” despite the corporate reshuffle.