Kevin Scott (computer scientist)

Kevin Scott
Scott in 2018
Born1972 (age 52–53)
Alma materLynchburg College
Wake Forest University
University of Virginia
Occupation(s)Chief Technology Officer, Microsoft

Kevin Scott (born 1972) is chief technology officer at Microsoft.[1] He was previously Senior Vice President of Engineering and Operations at LinkedIn from February 2011 to January 2017.[2][3]

Education

Kevin Scott grew up in Gladys, Virginia.[4][5] He holds a bachelor's degree from Lynchburg College in computer science and a master's degree from Wake Forest University in computer science.

He enrolled in a Ph.D. program at the University of Virginia.[6]

Career

After dropping out of his doctoral program in 2003,[7] Scott started his career at Google and held numerous positions in search and ads engineering, including receiving a Google Founders' Award, before leaving the company in 2007.[8] He was VP of engineering and operations at AdMob from July 2007 to June 2010.[9] Google acquired AdMob in 2010 for $750 million (~$1.02 billion in 2023) and Scott became Sr. Engineering Director of mobile ads engineering at Google.[10]

LinkedIn

Scott joined professional networking site LinkedIn in February 2011, as senior vice president for engineering.[11] LinkedIn held its initial public offering in May 2011, and Scott was credited with scaling the company's computer systems to keep up with accelerating demand.[12] Business Insider called Scott "the engineer who saved LinkedIn".[13]

Microsoft

In January 2017, soon after Microsoft acquired LinkedIn, Scott was named Microsoft's chief technology officer by CEO Satya Nadella.[14] He retained the title of senior vice president of infrastructure at LinkedIn until September 2017.[15] Scott described himself as feeling "like a kid in a candy store" because of all the exciting technologies Microsoft is working on.[6]

Nonprofits and boards

Scott is the founder of Behind the Tech, a non-profit organization that profiles people who work in technology on its website through photographs and interviews with the goal of inspiring others.[16] In 2014, Scott and his wife, Shannon Hunt-Scott, created The Scott Foundation, a San Francisco Bay Area organization that focuses on issues such as education, hunger, and STEM for children. He is also an emeritus trustee of the Anita Borg Institute[17] and was a founding member of the ACM Professions Board.[18] He advises several startups, is on the board of directors for Magic, and is an angel investor.[19] Since January 17, 2021, he is member of the board of directors of the automobile manufacturer Stellantis as non-executive Director and member of its ESG Committee.[20]

Personal life

Scott is married and has two children. He lives in Los Gatos, California.[7]

Works

  • Scott, Kevin; Shaw, Greg (2020). Reprogramming the American Dream: From Rural America to Silicon Valley―Making AI Serve Us All. Harper Business. ISBN 0-06-287987-1.

References

  1. ^ "Microsoft just announced its newest chief technology officer". Business Insider. Reuters. 2017-01-24. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  2. ^ "LinkedIn Promotes Kevin Scott to Senior Vice President of Engineering". news.linkedin.com. 2012-02-09. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  3. ^ Tate, Ryan (2013-04-10). "The Software Revolution Behind LinkedIn's Gushing Profits". WIRED. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  4. ^ "Microsoft's Kevin Scott Says He's 'Reprogramming the American Dream'". Retrieved Apr 9, 2020.
  5. ^ "A conversation with Kevin Scott, author of "Reprogramming the American Dream"". The AI Blog. Apr 3, 2020. Retrieved Apr 9, 2020.
  6. ^ a b Day, Matt (2017-05-11). "Feeling like 'a kid in a candy store,' CTO Kevin Scott's job is to keep Microsoft focused". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  7. ^ a b Dotan, Tom (September 16, 2023). "The Executive Trying to Make Microsoft Smarter About AI". The Wall Street Journal.
  8. ^ Kee, Tameka (2007-10-18). "Senior Engineer Leaves Google To Become AdMob's 'Quality Guru'". Retrieved 2018-06-14.
  9. ^ Contributor (2007-10-16). "Exclusive: AdMob Snares Google's Kevin Scott". Techcrunch. Retrieved 2018-06-08. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  10. ^ Rao, Leena (2011-02-07). "Another AdMob Exec Leaves Google; Kevin Scott Joins LinkedIn As VP Of Engineering". Techcrunch. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  11. ^ Frommer, Dan (2011-02-07). "Google Loses Another AdMob Exec As Tech Guru Flees For LinkedIn". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  12. ^ Vance, Ashley (2013-04-12). "Inside Operation InVersion, the Code Freeze That Saved LinkedIn". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  13. ^ Smith, Kevin (2013-04-11). "Meet The Engineer Who Saved LinkedIn". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  14. ^ Greene, Jay (2017-01-24). "Microsoft Names LinkedIn Executive to Tech Chief Role". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  15. ^ Heater, Brian (2017-01-24). "Microsoft names LinkedIn SVP Kevin Scott as CTO". Techcrunch. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  16. ^ Bellstrom, Kristen (2017-10-03). "Why Microsoft's CTO Is Photographing the Diverse People Who Build Your Tech". Fortune. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  17. ^ "AnitaB.org Board of Trustees - AnitaB.org". AnitaB.org. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  18. ^ "ACM Membership Boards". design.acm.org. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  19. ^ Foley, Mary Jo (2017-01-24). "Microsoft names LinkedIn infrastructure chief as company CTO". ZDNet. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  20. ^ Presentation at Stellantis global website