← All Leaders

Asha Sharma

CVP of Product, AI Platform at Microsoft

Chief VP of Product for Microsoft's AI platform overseeing AI infrastructure, foundation models, and agent toolchains; previously COO at Instacart and VP of Product at Meta running Messenger and Instagram Direct; board member at Home Depot and Coupang.

Dimension Profile

Strategic Vision 90%
Execution & Craft 70%
Data & Experimentation 50%
Growth & Distribution 50%
Team & Leadership 70%
User Empathy & Research 50%

Key Themes

product as organism not artifact agentic society org chart becomes work chart marginal cost approaching zero AI platform strategy roadmap planning in AI era

Episode Summary

Asha Sharma describes the paradigm shift from products as static artifacts to products as living organisms that think, learn, and improve with every interaction. Drawing from her roles leading Microsoft's AI platform, Instacart as COO, and Meta's messaging products, she argues that as marginal costs approach zero, agents will scale exponentially and fundamentally reshape org charts into work charts with fewer layers.

Leadership Principles

  • We're moving from product as artifact to product as organism — products that think, live, and learn are the new IP
  • When marginal cost of good output approaches zero, you'll see exponential demand and agents scaling to meet it
  • The org chart starts to become the work chart — you just don't need as many layers with agents

Notable Quotes

"We're approaching this world in which the marginal cost of the good output is approaching zero. We're going to see exponential demand for productivity and outputs. The way that you scale to that is with agents."

— On why agents are inevitable for scaling in the AI era

"These are living organisms that just get better with more interactions. This is the new IP of every single company — products that think and live and learn."

— On the shift from product as artifact to product as organism

"When all of that happens, the org chart starts to become the work chart. You just don't need as many layers."

— On how AI agents will reshape organizational structure

Want to know how you compare?

Take the Assessment