Microsoft’s Build 2025 conference in Seattle has been tainted with back-to-back days of protests organized by pro-Palestine activists, among them former Microsoft engineer Vaniya Agrawal.
Former Employee Leads Disruption Over Israel Ties
Agrawal, a software engineer of Indian-American descent, has been a strident critic of Microsoft’s relationship with Israel and has disrupted high-profile events, including the company’s 50th anniversary in April. At the Build 2025 conference, Agrawal and fellow former employee Hossam Nasr disrupted a session on AI security, shouting down Microsoft Head of Security for AI Neta Haiby and Head of Responsible AI Sarah Bird.
The protest was one element of a larger movement across the tech industry, with protesters calling for accountability for Microsoft’s technology transactions with Israel. Agrawal, who lost her job within days of her April protest, has emerged as a public face of tech-industry dissent, posting continuing protest photos from Build 2025 on social media.
Condemnation of Military Tech Use in Gaza
In her resignation letter, Agrawal condemned Microsoft for reportedly signing a $133 million deal with Israel’s Ministry of Defence, accusing the company of actively using its AI and Azure cloud services to support military operations against Palestinian civilians.
“Microsoft cloud and AI enable the Israeli military to be more lethal and destructive in Gaza,” Agrawal wrote in a company-wide email. The protests reflect rising internal dissent over Microsoft’s role in supplying cloud infrastructure to the Israeli Ministry of Defence, amid heightened scrutiny over the humanitarian toll of the Gaza conflict. Microsoft has not publicly commented on the protests or the employees’ dismissals.
Multiple Disruptions Target Microsoft Executives
The protests started on May 19, when a staffer disrupted CEO Satya Nadella’s keynote with an outburst of “Free Palestine” and calls for accountability in Microsoft’s tech arrangements with Israel. The next day, a Palestinian tech professional stormed executive Jay Parikh’s Azure AI presentation, yelling, “Cut ties! No Azure for apartheid!”
Agrawal’s move has triggered a wave of protests, calling attention to the increasingly strained relationship between tech firms and their employees regarding social responsibility and human rights.
