Xbox CEO Asha Sharma named to Federal Reserve jobs and productivity task force
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma was appointed to a Federal Reserve task force examining AI and jobs, an assignment that has drawn public attention due to her concurrent oversight of a 3,200-person workforce reduction.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has been appointed to a newly formed Federal Reserve task force dedicated to examining productivity and jobs. The announcement, confirmed by the central bank earlier this week, identifies Sharma as one of three external advisors tasked with analyzing the economic impact of general-purpose technologies, specifically artificial intelligence. This appointment, which seeks to inform the Federal Open Market Committee's monetary policy, arrives as the business landscape remains under scrutiny.
The timing of the Federal Reserve’s announcement has drawn significant public attention. Only days prior to the news, Sharma, who transitioned to lead the gaming division after a tenure heading Microsoft’s CoreAI group, confirmed a wide-reaching restructure of the Xbox brand. This internal initiative, described by leadership as a reset
, includes the elimination of 3,200 positions. According to company communications, approximately half of these reductions are set to occur throughout the 2027 fiscal year. The broader restructuring effort involves moving several studios toward independent status and streamlining management, which Sharma stated is intended to reduce layers from 14 down to five or fewer.
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Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh described the assembly of these five new task forces as an effort to ensure the institution is better positioned to meet its mandates of price stability and maximum employment.
"The US economy has changed significantly over the last generation, and never more so than right now. Each task force will carefully consider whether policymakers' means and methods, analytical tools, and policy approaches can be improved upon. I am honored that the best minds from a range of disciplines have agreed to work with us to sharpen our performance as an institution."
Kevin Warsh, Federal Reserve Chairman, via Federal Reserve Press Release
Sharma joins an advisory panel on productivity and jobs that also includes Stanford University professor of economics Charles I. Jones—currently on leave at Anthropic—and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen. Reporting from Shacknews notes that the appointment of a leader currently presiding over significant workforce reductions to a task force on jobs has been viewed as a point of contention. Similarly, Game Developer highlighted that the move makes Sharma the face of the largest mass layoff in the gaming industry for 2026, even as she begins her advisory role at the federal level.
Internal documentation regarding the Xbox restructure indicates that the company will shift focus toward its primary franchises while reducing vendor spending by 50 percent. PC Gamer reports that some staff members have expressed concerns that these organizational changes could negatively impact the future of key company brands.
The Federal Reserve has stated that these task forces will operate independently to provide candid feedback. The work produced by the group, including Sharma’s contributions regarding the influence of AI, is expected to be released via periodic updates on the institution's official website.
Task Force Advisory Overview
| Task Force Member | Professional Background | Task Force Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Asha Sharma | CEO of Xbox, former Microsoft CoreAI lead | Productivity and Jobs |
| Marc Andreessen | Cofounder, Andreessen Horowitz | Productivity and Jobs |
| Charles I. Jones | Economics Professor, Stanford; Advisor at Anthropic | Productivity and Jobs |
While the Federal Reserve continues its internal review, observers will likely watch for how these advisory groups balance the rapid integration of emerging technologies like AI with the stated goals of maintaining broad labor market stability. Future updates from the central bank are expected to detail the progress of these task forces in the coming months as they prepare findings for the Federal Open Market Committee.
