Lara Rubbelke’s Post

A Chapter Closed: Reflecting on My 7 Years at Microsoft Dear colleagues and friends, As I pen down these words, it's with mixed emotions that I have today my official final departure from Microsoft. Seven transformative years have flown by, filled with experiences I will forever cherish. These weren't just about the projects we undertook, or the goals we achieved; it was about the journey, the learning curves, and the bonds forged. The trials and triumphs, the brainstorming sessions, those late-night pitches, and the aspirations we nurtured have shaped us into a cohesive force. Our shared dedication to the ONE Surface Commercial ethos was the beacon that always illuminated our path, and it was your unwavering spirit that made every challenge surmountable for me. Looking back, the initial three years were foundational, marked by strategic endeavors that positioned our business for success. And as we navigated the subsequent years, especially through the uncharted waters of a global pandemic, your resilience and adaptability were nothing short of remarkable. We not only weathered the storm but also surpassed our targets, year after year. As you venture into the next chapter, my journey diverges from yours. However, the camaraderie, trust, and shared memories will always keep our paths connected. I am filled with hope that, in some small way, I have made an impact on each one of you, just as you have on me. If you carry forward even a fragment of our shared wisdom or a lesson learned, my time here would have achieved its purpose. Here's to the incredible past, the promising present, and a future filled with even greater achievements. I'm proud of what we built, and I'm excited to see where you'll take it next. Until our paths cross again, Your Robin My thanks to everyone and especially to: Sabine Bendiek, João Couto, Andreas Kleinknecht, Dr. Christine Haupt, Thorsten Herrmann, Celine Garbi Joergens, Oliver Gürtler, Alain Genevaux, Najat Messaoud, calin turcanu, Gustavo Fernandez, Matt Barlow, Travis Ames, Yann Calvez, Stefanie Langner, Lea Waldmann, Andre Hansel, Sneha Boobna, Marc Gubler, Katie Huedepohl, Charlotte Reimann, Joerg Kreykamp and the entire ONE Surface commercial team and our Microsoft Germany MCAPS organization.

I'm thrilled to share that I've begun the next phase of my journey at Microsoft in our Digital Enterprise group where I'll focus on supporting the growth of our business across Microsoft's cloud portfolio. One month in, I've captured some takeaways of what's been helpful for me as I enter this new space: - Adaptability: Being open to change and new ways of thinking. - Conscious Reflection: Knowing which qualities to carry forward from my past experiences and which to adjust. - Balance of doing vs. being: Understanding when to take action and when to observe and learn. - Curiosity and Transparency: Asking questions and openly admitting what I don't know. - Gratitude and Connection: Acknowledging the contributions of others to my development and creating new networks. - Paying it Forward: In parallel to my new work, focusing on how I can contribute to the success of others. - Commitment to Impact: Focusing on making a meaningful difference in my new role. I couldn't be more grateful for my managers, my mentors, my peers, my friends, and family who have supported me all along. I hope to continue making a difference at Microsoft and living our culture each and every day.   

Yesterday, May 27th, 2024, marked my 10th anniversary of working at Microsoft. Joining Microsoft is so special to my entire career and even my entire life, not only because how much Microsoft has grown in the past 10 years (stock price increased from $40+ to $420+), how many great colleagues and managers I have collaborated and worked with, and how many impactful customer engagements I have contributed to deliver successfully, but also that my lovely daughter was born the second day after I joined Microsoft. Whenever I celebrate my anniversary at Microsoft, I celebrate my daughter's birthday. I am doing reflection on my decade with Microsoft quite a bit recently. Two words come to top of my mind: Growth Mindset and Customer Obsession. I had low and high tides, happy laughter and sorrow tears, and some customer engagements are more challenging than others. Having a growth mindset helps me always focus on the positive sides of situations. When I think positively, the future looks brighter. Customer obsession many times made my decision making much easier. Things can be much clearer when I asked myself this question: What are the best actions we can take in order to make the customer successful on this partnership with Microsoft? 10 years are in the past. So lucky to be surrounded by a group of greatest data scientists, engineers, TPMs, BPMs, and may others. More to come in the future.

This is how you build culture. 

Awaiting to gain some valuable knowledge from this event.

This is the day. 10 years at #google. And it’s still as exciting as day #1, still so much to explore and learn. I have been lucky to experience something very unique: starting pretty much from scratch, dreaming big and feeling uncomfortably excited, developing new solutions together with our customers, building a fantastic team, a culture and a cloud business. Thank you to our customers and partners for trusting us so far with running some of the most critical workloads they have. Thank you to the Google Cloud Nordic team for trusting me in leading our Customer Engineering team. Thank you to my Nordic Customer Engineer team for being so creative, persistent, hard working and knowledgeable. Thank you to the leaders that have inspired me, trusted me, and have had patience with me 🙂(in no specific order): Eva Fors, Dr. Daniel Holz, Bastien Legras, Chris Lindsay, André Hoekzema, Otso Juntunen, Bill Hippenmeyer, Matt McNeill, Tom Grey, Laurence Lafont, Olivier Colinet, Carzaniga Gabriele, Greg DeMichillie, Paolo Spreafico, Barak Regev and many others. And last, but absolutely not least: Michael Kollig. To Product Management, Engineering, Support, Office of the CTO leaders that supported impossible tech challenges: Ines Envid, Aspi Siganporia, Haakon Ringberg, James Cariello, Brad Calder, Urs Hölzle, Jack Lo, Jonas Lindberg, Ashwin Ram, Will Grannis, Grace Mollison, Morgan Dollard, Noam Lampert, Rae Wang, Eric Schmidt, Jason Wu, William Vambenepe. Thank you to Jenny, for holding the fort at home. 10 years, and yet, the journey has just started. #google #googlecloud #leadership #intrapreneurship

As I sit down to write this post, my heart is a whirlwind of emotions. After 13 remarkable years at Microsoft, the time has come for me to spread my wings and explore new horizons. But before I dive into the future, let’s take a moment to reflect on the past. When I first stepped into Building "M" at Graphisoft Park, I was wide-eyed and full of dreams. Microsoft. There I was, part of this incredible company. Over the years, I’ve seen services transform into magic, witnessed products launch, and celebrated announcements that echoed across the tech world. But it wasn’t just about the technology. It was about the people—the brilliant minds who challenged me, the mentors who guided me, and the colleagues who became family. Together, we’ve transformed organizations, implemented solutions for customers to solve their problems and open possibilities for them which were unseen before. We have empowered persons and organizations to achieve more. And those awards! The Platinum Club jacket—I wore it with pride, like a superhero donning their cape. The Gold Club sweater—it kept me warm during late-night working marathons. And the Champions Award—three times! Each one a testament to the collective brilliance of the teams I've been working with. But life nudges us forward. Another opportunity knocked on my door, promising exciting work, uncharted challenges, possibility to learn and a team which I felt I'm already part for years. Still it wasn’t an easy decision. Leaving behind the redmond.exe sunsets, the hum of the Azure data centers, and the camaraderie—I felt a sad. But sometimes, growth lies beyond our comfort zones. So, with gratitude and full of excitement, I’m taking the leap. Microsoft, you’ll always be my first love in the tech universe. You will inspire me, even from a different corner of the binary galaxy. Thank you for being more than colleagues—for being my friends, my mentors, and my teammates. Farewell, my dear Microsoft family. Until our paths cross again in the cloud.

February 1, 2010 -- September 30, 2023, Microsoft!!! It isn't easy to capture 13 years of my life in a few paragraphs. In my role as a leader of a remote development center, I had the opportunity to set the long-term direction for Microsoft's Advanced Technology Lab in Cairo and to guide my organization towards impact, success and growth. I had the honor to work with Microsoft's senior leaders at corp and other locations worldwide. Locally, I was most fortunate to have a team with unmatched talent in our domain in our part of the world. Most of whom I hired personally, and it was my pleasure to support them during their growth journeys. Over the years, quite a few of those hires have become well-respected and successful leaders, engineers and scientists. We worked together on some of the most challenging projects that combine science and engineering, and we built impactful AI-based cloud services. I enjoyed the work, the opportunity to deliver global impact at a scale that very few companies other than Microsoft can deliver and I continue to enjoy the learnings I accumulated along the way. Thank you Microsoft! I never expected to stay at the same company in the same role for almost 14 years. It's just not me! Microsoft is such a multi-facetted company that it happened. Now, however, I am excited to explore the world outside Microsoft and to define the next chapter of my career. To everyone I worked with, or got to know, during my tenure at Microsoft, I hope we can retain the connection. No mixed feelings: appreciation for Microsoft and it's people and excitement about the future.

🌟Meet Sangeet Parashar, a Software Engineer at Microsoft! 💻 Embracing the art of trial and error, Sangeet emphasizes the significance of stumbling along the way when venturing into uncharted territory. 🛤️ Join us as we delve into his insightful perspective on the value of embracing failures as stepping stones, where every stumble is a stride toward innovation. 🚀 Let's explore his journey of turning failures into fuel and paving his own path to triumph. 💡 Watch it here: https://lnkd.in/gKGNRD5a

Yesterday was my last day at Microsoft. What an incredible journey! I had the privilege of kicking off my journey with the phenomenal P12 team, which included Alan Esteves, César Machado, Pedro Pinheiro, Jesus Jimenez Illanes, Marcelo Pimenta, and many others. Your camaraderie and collaboration were invaluable. Huge appreciation to my mentor, Bruno Elias—your guidance has been transformative for my career. Dana-Livia Marcu and Ioan Milea, your mentorship set the tone for my journey at Microsoft from the very beginning. Additional kudos to Ricardo Marques, Ana Barboza, Dario Galante, Jorge Frutuoso, Luís Pinto, Sofia Menezes, Inês Mamede, Rafael Pereira, Filipe Pires and countless others who made every day at Microsoft a joy. Also, a shoutout to some folks from Romania: Vlad Giugal, Johnny Bredberg, Mihai Melinte, Cristina Mardari, and Robert Raileanu—thank you! Also, from the Egypt site,Seef and Mina Nagui Nassif. Adela Anton-Cortan, your depth of knowledge is awe-inspiring. Your ability to troubleshoot and explain complexities, even when I was a rookie in Outlook, is nothing short of inspirational. A special thanks to my manager, Renato Rodrigues Augusto. Your mentorship and understanding made my experience at Microsoft truly rewarding. Lastly, David Barrett from the Messaging Developer team—your handling of super-technical calls and vast knowledge in messaging and development floored me. I learned immensely during my few months with the team. People often ask what I enjoyed the most at Microsoft. The answer? The networking opportunities and the incredible people I had the fortune to collaborate with and learn from. Because, finding a "good job" in tech, it's easy, but finding a job where you meet amazing people that inspire you everyday, teach you, and even tell you where they have failed, so you don't make the same mistakes, that's incredibly rare! As I set out on this entrepreneurial journey focused on AI, my aim is to inspire others to chase their dreams. I recently came across a quote that struck a chord with me: "The magic you are looking for is in the work you're avoiding." This quote resonates because it speaks to the notion that our greatest achievements often lie just beyond our comfort zones. We're often drawn to what's easy, quick, or instantly gratifying, but the real 'magic'—be it professional growth, the satisfaction of a problem well-solved, or the joy of impactful work—often requires diving into challenges we've been hesitant to tackle. For me, this quote serves as both an inspiration and a reminder. As I navigate the complex and ever-evolving landscape of AI and entrepreneurship, I know the road ahead won't be easy. But I also know that the 'magic,' the truly transformative experiences and breakthroughs, will come from embracing the challenges. Thank you to everyone who made this chapter of my career unforgettable. Onward and upward! 💪 #microsoft #microsoftfamily #newbeginnings #gratitude #entrepreneurship