Microsoft's Head of Cortana, Javier Soltero, Quits

Microsoft's Head of digital Assistant Cortana is leaving the company by the end of the year, as Cortana has moved from the Artificial Intelligence (AI) research division into the Experiences and Devices group.

First reported by ZDNet on Tuesday, Javier Soltero, Vice President of Cortana, confirmed his departure in a tweet posted to his personal account.

"I've made the decision to leave Microsoft. 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 tweeted.

Soltero helped Microsoft improve its Outlook iOS app.

He later became the overall head of Outlook before taking on the Cortana role in March this year.

Last month, Microsoft confirmed that Cortana was one of the technologies that management was moving from AI + Research to the Experiences & Devices team, which is under Executive Vice President Rajesh Jha.

"Microsoft is in the midst of trying to reposition Cortana from a standalone digital assistant to more of an assistance aide," the report said.