- Thursday, May 22, 2025
She and another former Microsoft employee Hossam Nasr tried to disrupt a Build session on AI security to protest the company’s cloud contracts with the Israeli government
By: India Weekly
MICROSOFT’S former employee Vaniya Agarwal, who was fired last month for interrupting the company’s 50th anniversary celebration with pro-Palestine protests, tried to disrupt another company event in Seattle, Washington.
She and another former Microsoft employee Hossam Nasr tried to disrupt a Build session on AI security by shouting down Neta Haiby, Microsoft’s Head of Security for AI, and Sarah Bird, its Head of Responsible AI, in protest against the company’s cloud contracts with the Israeli government.
The Build 2025 event, being held at Seattle Convention Center, has been marred by pro-Palestinian protests.
The protests are being coordinated by No Azure for Apartheid, an activist group opposing Microsoft’s cloud contracts with Israel.
On May 19, an employee interrupted CEO Satya Nadella’s keynote by shouting “Free Palestine” and demanding accountability for Microsoft’s tech deals with Israel.
The following day, a Palestinian tech worker stormed executive Jay Parikh’s Azure AI presentation, declaring, “Cut ties! No Azure for apartheid!”
Agrawal, a former engineer in the Microsoft’s AI division, had previously accused Microsoft leadership of complicity in civilian deaths in Gaza.
Microsoft has not publicly commented on the protests or the employees’ dismissals.
However, the repeated disruptions reflect rising dissent among its existing and former employees over Microsoft’s role in supplying cloud infrastructure to Israel amid the Gaza war.
