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Home / News / Business News / Meet Vaniya Agrawal—the Indian-origin techie fired by Microsoft over protests
Meet Vaniya Agrawal—the Indian-origin techie fired by Microsoft over protests
Agrawal was fired for protesting at Microsoft

Meet Vaniya Agrawal—the Indian-origin techie fired by Microsoft over protests

By Mudit Dube
Apr 08, 2025
10:09 am
What's the story

Microsoft has fired two employees, including Indian-American engineer Vaniya Agrawal, after they interrupted an event celebrating the company's 50th anniversary. On Friday, Ibtihal Aboussad, who has called on Microsoft to stop working with the Israeli government, interrupted a speech by the company's AI head, Mustafa Suleyman. Later, Agrawal disrupted a Q&A session with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and former CEOs Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.

Resignation

Agrawal's resignation and criticism of Microsoft

Shortly after her protest, Agrawal announced her resignation in a company-wide email, effective April 11. In her email, she stated that she cannot continue working for a company "that participates in violent injustice." She emphasized reports indicating that Microsoft's Azure and AI technologies are being used in Israel's military operations and surveillance. "Our work is fueling this genocide," she said, accusing Microsoft of being a "digital weapons manufacturer" and violating its own human rights commitments.

Accountability

Agrawal urges colleagues to hold Microsoft accountable

In her resignation letter, Agrawal urged her colleagues to use their positions to challenge Microsoft's policies. She encouraged them "to hold Microsoft accountable to its own values and mission." Microsoft accepted her resignation immediately, according to a company email seen by Bloomberg. Aboussad was also terminated due to "acts of misconduct," as per another email reviewed by Bloomberg.

Profile

Background and early career of Agrawal

Agrawal graduated with top honors from Arizona State University (ASU) with a Bachelor of Science in software engineering. She was one of only 35 ASU students to receive the prestigious Grace Hopper Scholarship, allowing her to attend the 2017 Grace Hopper Conference. Prior to joining Microsoft as a software engineer, she briefly worked as a tea consultant/social media manager at Adagio Teas (2015) and as a medical assistant/receptionist at True Health Medical Center (March 2016-December 2017).

Twitter Post

Take a look at Agarwal's protest during Microsoft's event