Indian-American engineer disrupts Microsoft event, confronts Satya Nadella, Bill Gates: ‘Shame on you'

Microsoft’s 50th anniversary celebration on March 4 was disrupted by pro-Palestinian protests, including a dramatic interruption by Vaniya Agrawal, a software engineer in the company’s AI division. Indian-American Microsoft engineer Vaniya Agrawal confronted the company’s former CEOs Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates while they were onstage with current CEO Satya Nadella.

“Shame on you all”

“Shame on you all. You’re all hypocrites,” she said, before another woman began escorting her out. Agarwal continued registering her protest even as some other employees attending the 50th anniversary event booed her out of the venue.

“Fifty thousand Palestinians in Gaza have been murdered with Microsoft technology. How dare you. Shame on all of you for celebrating on their blood. Cut ties with Israel,” she said.

Bill Gates, Satya Nadella and Steve Ballmer waited in silence until she was escorted out, and then resumed their panel discussion without addressing the protest.

Footage of Agrawal’s interruption has been widely circulated online. According to Verge, after her dramatic protest at the event, Agrawal sent a mass email saying she had decided to leave Microsoft. Her last day will be April 11, she said.

“You may have seen me stand up earlier today to call out Satya during his speech at the Microsoft 50th anniversary,” Agrawal wrote, adding that she could not, in good conscience, be a part of a company whose work has enabled genocide by Israel.

“Recent reports by the AP have exposed Microsoft’s critical role in enabling Israel’s apartheid regime and the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. The article details ‘a $133 million contract between Microsoft and Israel’s Ministry of Defense,’ highlighting how Microsoft Azure and AI fuel the occupation’s mass state surveillance and contribute to indiscriminate targeting and bombing of an entire indigenous Palestinian people,” she noted.

(Also read: Indian-origin employee’s email to colleagues after disrupting Microsoft event: ‘Decided to leave company’)

This was one of two pro-Palestine protests that interrupted the company’s 50th anniversary celebrations last week. Before Agrawal, another employee named Ibtihal Aboussad stood up as Suleyman was talking on stage and interrupted his speech.