NEW YORK: A month after taking over as Microsoft chief, Satya Nadella today announced a major top-level reshuffle, which saw the heads of marketing and business development resigning.

In a letter to employees of the US software major, Nadella said Executive Vice President Business Development and Evangelism Tony Bates has resigned and his role will be taken over by Eric Rudder as interim head.

Executive VP and marketing head Tami Reller has also resigned and her role will be handled by Chris Capossela, who will be Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer of the Redmond, Washington-headquartered firm.

Microsoft also appointed Mark penn as Chief Strategy Officer.

"Tony Bates has decided this is the right time for him to look for his next opportunity. Tony came to the company via the Skype acquisition, where he was CEO of Skype, and did a great job of successfully landing that team and continuing to build the service in a high impact way," Nadella said.

Rudder will serve as interim leader responsible for Business Development and Evangelism, while continuing in his current role, Hyderabad-born Nadella said.

"We need a single leader running marketing for the company and have asked Chris Capossela to take on this role as EVP and Chief Marketing Officer, reporting to me," he said.

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