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Summarize
Microsoft's secret spreadsheet reveals AI talent it's targeting from Meta
Microsoft is even matching Meta's compensation packages

Microsoft's secret spreadsheet reveals AI talent it's targeting from Meta

Aug 13, 2025
09:26 am

What's the story

Microsoft is on a talent acquisition spree, especially targeting Meta's artificial intelligence (AI) workforce. The tech giant has drawn up a list of top engineers and researchers at Meta that it wants to hire. According to internal documents seen by Business Insider, Microsoft is even willing to match the lucrative compensation packages offered by Meta for this elite group of talent.

Recruitment tactics

Microsoft's multi-million dollar offers to woo AI talent from Meta

Microsoft has been offering multi-million dollar packages to lure top AI talent from Meta. The company has also started a new process for competitive offers, where recruiters can mark candidates as "critical AI talent." This designation gets the attention of higher-ups who respond with Microsoft's best offer within a day. The process includes providing an "offer rationale" about the candidate's skills and experience in AI.

Team involvement

Microsoft's AI teams leading the recruitment drive

Two of Microsoft's AI teams, Microsoft AI and CoreAI, are leading the recruitment drive. The former is led by Mustafa Suleyman, a co-founder of Google DeepMind, while the latter is headed by Jay Parikh, former engineering boss at Meta. These teams have dedicated recruiting units to make competitive offers to potential hires from Meta.

Strategy disclosure

Internal documents reveal Microsoft's strategy for recruiting from Meta

Internal documents from Microsoft show a detailed strategy for recruiting talent from Meta. These include a spreadsheet listing targeted individuals by name, location, and position. The document also highlights teams and positions of interest such as Reality Labs, GenAI Infrastructure, and Meta AI Research. This information is being shared among hiring managers on certain AI teams at Microsoft.

Pay scale

Microsoft's internal pay guidelines for engineers and researchers

Microsoft's internal pay guidelines for engineers and researchers show the highest compensation package includes a salary of $408,000. This is supplemented by on-hire stock awards worth $1.9 million, annual stock awards nearly worth $1.5 million, and cash bonuses up to 90%. These documents also allow recruiters to seek approval for higher offers in competitive situations involving top AI talent like those at Meta.