Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has been named an adviser to the US Federal Reserve’s new Productivity and Jobs task force, which will study how new technologies — especially AI — affect the American economy and feed findings back to the committee that sets US monetary policy.
- Sharma is the only currently active CEO on any of the Fed’s five new task forces, sitting alongside academics, policy experts and figures such as venture capitalist Marc Andreessen.
- The appointment arrived the same week Sharma announced sweeping Xbox layoffs — 1,600 immediately, rising to around 3,200 by the end of Microsoft’s financial year, including cuts at ZeniMax Online and id Software.
- For Xbox players in the UAE, nothing changes: this is a governance and policy story with no impact on consoles, Game Pass or regional pricing.
Asha Sharma has added a second job title to her CV, and it is not one anyone had on their bingo card. The Xbox CEO has been named an adviser to the US Federal Reserve’s new Productivity and Jobs task force, one of five panels the American central bank announced this week to help “advance the conduct of monetary policy”, as reported by VGC.
What the Fed actually wants from her
The Productivity and Jobs task force has a fairly specific brief: examine “the economic impact of new general-purpose technologies, including artificial intelligence, to inform the Federal Reserve’s policy judgments.” In plain terms, the Fed wants to understand what AI is doing to American jobs and output before it makes decisions on interest rates and employment policy, and it has recruited outside experts to help.
Sharma is a logical pick on paper. Before taking over Xbox from Phil Spencer earlier this year, she was president of Microsoft’s CoreAI product, and before that she led product and engineering for Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct. Few executives have sat closer to the technology the Fed is now trying to measure.
She is also, notably, the only active CEO on any of the five task forces. The rest of the roster leans towards academics and former executives — Walmart’s ex-CEO Doug McMillon will advise on data, while the wider Productivity and Jobs panel includes venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and Stanford economist Charles Jones. Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh said the task forces have “a mandate to follow the evidence, provide candid feedback, and produce rigorous findings” for the Federal Open Market Committee, and will operate independently with support from Fed staff.
The timing is doing a lot of heavy lifting
Here is where the story gets uncomfortable. Sharma’s appointment to a panel studying jobs and productivity landed the same week she announced sweeping layoffs across Xbox — 1,600 roles cut immediately, with the total expected to reach 3,200 by the end of Microsoft’s financial year. State WARN notices have already revealed hundreds of job losses at ZeniMax Online, the studio behind The Elder Scrolls Online, and around 100 at Doom developer id Software.
Whether that makes her a poor fit or an unusually well-informed one is a matter of perspective. She is, after all, currently living the exact phenomenon the task force exists to study: a technology company restructuring its workforce in the AI era. The Fed has not explained how appointments were made, and the task forces report to the FOMC, not to Microsoft, so there is a clear line between her day job and the advisory role — at least on paper.
FAQ
What is the Federal Reserve task force Asha Sharma has joined?
Sharma is an adviser on the Fed’s new Productivity and Jobs task force, one of five panels created to improve how the US central bank conducts monetary policy. Her panel will study the economic impact of new general-purpose technologies, particularly AI, and report evidence-based findings to the Federal Open Market Committee.
Is Asha Sharma leaving Xbox to work for the Federal Reserve?
No. The Fed role is an advisory position alongside her job as Xbox CEO. The task forces operate independently with support from Federal Reserve staff, and Sharma is the only currently active CEO named across all five panels.
Does this appointment affect Xbox consoles or Game Pass in the UAE?
No. This is a US policy and governance story with no announced changes to Xbox hardware availability, Game Pass offerings or pricing in the UAE.
Why is the timing of the appointment controversial?
The announcement came the same week Sharma enacted major layoffs across Xbox — 1,600 jobs initially, rising to around 3,200 by the end of Microsoft’s financial year, including significant cuts at ZeniMax Online and id Software — while joining a panel that studies jobs and productivity.
