Microsoft has appointed Margaret L. (Peggy) Johnson as executive vice president of Business Development, directly reporting to CEO Satya Nadella.

Johnson joins Microsoft from Qualcomm where she most recently served as executive vice president of Qualcomm Technologies and president of global market development.

In that role she was responsible for commercialising new business opportunities and developing strategic relationships.

“Peggy shares our worldview and knows what it takes to drive new growth in mobility and the cloud,” Nadella says.

“Her experience uniquely positions her to lead Microsoft’s business development efforts, and she will be a great addition to our senior leadership team.”

Johnson will be responsible for driving strategic business deals and partnerships across various industries with key customers, strategic innovation partners, OEMs, key accounts, third-party publishers and industry influencers.

During her time at Qualcomm, Johnson held various leadership positions across engineering, sales, marketing and business development, and played an instrumental role in launching the wNAorld’s first large-scale mobile app store.

“I’m thrilled to be joining Microsoft at such a pivotal time for the company and the industry,” Johnson adds.

“The opportunity to build new and surprising partnerships to help Microsoft succeed in a mobile-first, cloud-first world is truly exciting, and I look forward to leading these efforts.”