Microsoft puts Brad Smith in charge of communications
Microsoft puts Brad Smith in charge of communications
微软任命布拉德·史密斯（Brad Smith）负责公关业务
Microsoft’s communications are moving over to the legal and corporate side of the house. 微软的公关部门即将被划归至法律与企业事务部门旗下。
Microsoft is moving its communications group out of marketing and into its Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs (CELA) organization. The surprise change will see Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith oversee communications, while the company searches for a replacement for Frank Shaw, chief communications officer, who is departing later this year. 微软正在将其公关团队从市场营销部门剥离，并入企业、外部与法律事务（CELA）组织。这一出人意料的变动意味着，微软副董事长兼总裁布拉德·史密斯（Brad Smith）将接管公关业务，同时公司将寻找首席公关官弗兰克·肖（Frank Shaw）的继任者，后者将于今年晚些时候离职。
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella thanked Shaw “for everything he has done for Microsoft” in an internal memo announcing the communications changes. Shaw announced earlier this month that he’s leaving Microsoft after nearly three decades supporting the company’s communications. 微软首席执行官萨提亚·纳德拉（Satya Nadella）在一份宣布公关架构调整的内部备忘录中，感谢了肖“为微软所做的一切”。肖在本月初宣布，在为公司公关事业效力近三十年后，他将离开微软。
Brent Colburn, VP of global public affairs, has been appointed as interim communications leader to help navigate what Nadella calls “a media environment that is increasingly fragmented and noisier than ever.” Nadella also says he’s “excited about the opportunity to help our engineers, sellers, partners, and others closest to our products and customers become an even bigger part of how we tell our story.” 全球公共事务副总裁布伦特·科尔伯恩（Brent Colburn）已被任命为临时公关负责人，以帮助应对纳德拉所称的“一个比以往任何时候都更加碎片化、更加嘈杂的媒体环境”。纳德拉还表示，他“很高兴能有机会帮助我们的工程师、销售人员、合作伙伴以及其他最贴近产品和客户的人员，让他们在讲述公司故事的过程中发挥更大的作用。”
As GeekWire points out, that sounds a lot like how AI startups work, with researchers leading the demos and blogs at companies like OpenAI and Anthropic. Microsoft has been chasing Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI to “become one of the top four labs in the world,” according to Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman. In an interview with The Verge earlier this year, Suleyman said he wants Microsoft “to build the very best frontier models in the world.” 正如 GeekWire 所指出的，这听起来很像人工智能初创公司的运作方式，即由研究人员在 OpenAI 和 Anthropic 等公司主导演示和博客内容。据微软人工智能首席执行官穆斯塔法·苏莱曼（Mustafa Suleyman）称，微软一直在追赶谷歌、Anthropic 和 OpenAI，旨在“成为全球四大实验室之一”。在今年早些时候接受《The Verge》采访时，苏莱曼表示，他希望微软“构建世界上最顶尖的前沿模型”。
Brad Smith, who’s taking over communications from chief marketing officer Takeshi Numoto, is often the public face of Microsoft’s policy and corporate communications. Smith travels the world meeting with governments, regulators, and Microsoft’s customers. It’s still not clear who will take over permanently from Shaw later this year, but Microsoft is looking at both internal and external candidates. 布拉德·史密斯从首席营销官竹内武（Takeshi Numoto）手中接管公关业务，他通常是微软政策和企业公关的公众形象代表。史密斯经常奔波于世界各地，与各国政府、监管机构及微软客户会面。目前尚不清楚谁将在今年晚些时候永久接替肖的职位，但微软正在同时考察内部和外部候选人。
Here’s Satya Nadella’s memo:
以下是萨提亚·纳德拉的备忘录：
Communications has never been more important to Microsoft. The company is changing, our industry is changing, and the world around us is changing. And in a media environment that is increasingly fragmented and noisier than ever, we need to continue to be grounded in our mission, earn trust each day, and find new ways to connect directly with all of our constituencies. 公关对于微软而言从未像现在这样重要。公司在变革，行业在变革，我们周围的世界也在变革。在这样一个比以往任何时候都更加碎片化、更加嘈杂的媒体环境中，我们需要继续立足于我们的使命，每天赢得信任，并寻找新的方式与我们所有的利益相关方直接建立联系。
I first want to thank Frank for everything he has done for Microsoft. He has made tremendous contributions to the company and to our communications function over the last 17+ years. And he’s been a great source of counsel to our leadership team and to me personally, across the company’s biggest moments. 首先，我要感谢弗兰克为微软所做的一切。在过去的 17 年多里，他为公司和我们的公关职能做出了巨大贡献。在公司经历的每一个重大时刻，他都是我们领导团队和我个人的重要顾问。
As Frank prepares to embark on his next chapter, Takeshi, Brad, and I have been discussing the evolution of comms at the company. I have asked Brad to lead the communications function going forward. Few leaders embody Microsoft’s voice as authentically as Brad. He brings a deep understanding of our business, a strong connection to our stakeholders, and a rare ability to communicate complex ideas with clarity, conviction, and trust. 随着弗兰克准备开启人生的下一个篇章，竹内武、布拉德和我一直在讨论公司公关业务的演进。我已经要求布拉德在未来领导公关职能。很少有领导者能像布拉德那样真实地体现微软的声音。他带来了对我们业务的深刻理解、与利益相关者的紧密联系，以及一种罕见的能力——即以清晰、坚定和值得信赖的方式传达复杂的理念。
During this transition, Brent Colburn will continue reporting to Brad and will now act as our interim communications leader. The comms leadership team will report to Brent, and Frank will continue to advise Brad and Brent on the transition. 在此过渡期间，布伦特·科尔伯恩将继续向布拉德汇报，并担任我们的临时公关负责人。公关领导团队将向布伦特汇报，弗兰克将继续就过渡事宜为布拉德和布伦特提供建议。
In many ways, the people closest to the work have the best opportunity to shape how Microsoft is understood. We need to give people across the company the tools and support to do it well. And I’m excited about the opportunity to help our engineers, sellers, partners, and others closest to our products and customers become an even bigger part of how we tell our story, all connected by a shared strategy and set of principles. All of you have a critical role to play in making that possible. 在许多方面，最贴近工作的人最有机会塑造外界对微软的认知。我们需要为全公司的员工提供工具和支持，让他们做好这件事。我很高兴能有机会帮助我们的工程师、销售人员、合作伙伴以及其他最贴近产品和客户的人员，让他们在讲述公司故事的过程中发挥更大的作用，这一切都将由共同的战略和原则所连接。你们每个人在实现这一目标的过程中都发挥着至关重要的作用。
We have an exciting fall ahead, with a number of important moments and events coming up and great marketing behind them. It is a real opportunity to bring together our product story, our marketing, and our communications in new ways. 我们即将迎来激动人心的秋季，届时将有一系列重要时刻和活动，并伴随着出色的营销支持。这是一个将我们的产品故事、市场营销和公关以全新方式结合起来的绝佳机会。
We will learn, we will experiment, and we will evolve. There is a fundamentally new way to think about communications, and this team will be central to building it. 我们将学习、实验并不断进化。思考公关的方式正在发生根本性的转变，而这个团队将是构建这一转变的核心。
Thank you for everything you do for Microsoft, and for the role you each play in telling our story. 感谢你们为微软所做的一切，也感谢你们在讲述我们故事中所扮演的每一个角色。
Satya 萨提亚