Sharon Gillett

Sharon Gillett’s goal is to amplify Microsoft’s return on its investment in research, for the Microsoft Research labs in New England (located in Cambridge, MA where she is based), New York City, and Montreal.  Research areas covered include artificial intelligence/machine learning, economics, social/behavioral sciences and intersections among these fields.  Specific areas of focus for Sharon include building external partnerships to enable machine learning research in biomedicine; driving research results into practice in collaboration with Microsoft’s engineering and business groups; and developing strategic priorities and communications for executives.

 

Sharon’s current role draws on the broad mix of skills she developed in her career prior to Microsoft, including positions as a Bureau Chief at the FCC and Commissioner of Telecommunications and Cable for Massachusetts; a Principal Research Associate in technology policy and strategy at MIT; and a software developer and manager at Thinking Machines Corp. and BBN Communications Corp.

 

Sharon was educated at Harvard (AB, Physics) and MIT (Sloan MBA and MS in Technology and Policy).