- Wednesday, May 28, 2025
This Indian-American software engineer has taken part in the disruption of two Microsoft events to draw attention to its ties with Israel
By: India Weekly
VANIYA AGRAWAL has now become a prominent face of protest against Microsoft’s business ties with the Israeli government.
This Indian-American software engineer and a former Microsoft employee has taken part in the disruption of two Microsoft events to draw attention towards its indirect involvement in the killing of Palestinians.
There were media reports earlier that AI models from Microsoft and OpenAI were used as part of an Israeli military program to select bombing targets during its wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
The first protest happened on April 4 when the tech giant was celebrating its 50th anniversary in Redmond, Washington.
Agrawal then worked as a software engineer in Microsoft’s artificial intelligence division.
She interrupted a panel featuring Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, and Satya Nadella.
She later claimed in her email that Microsoft was complicit in Israel’s genocide, and by working for the company, employees were also complicit.
Agrawal had put in her papers before the event and was serving the notice period.
But after her protest, Microsoft relieved her the next day.
Microsoft had then said that it provided many avenues for all voices to be heard in a way that does not cause business interruption.
Last week, she again tried to disrupt another Microsoft 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 ties with the Israeli government.
The three-day Build 2025 event, held at Seattle Convention Center, was marred by many pro-Palestinian protests.
The protests are being coordinated by No Azure for Apartheid, an activist group opposing Microsoft for offering the services of its cloud computing platform Azure to 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!”
Microsoft has not publicly commented on the protests or the employees’ dismissals.
Agrawal is an Arizona State University alumnus and began her career in Amazon in 2019 as software development engineer and worked there for three years.
She moved to Microsoft in 2023.
Agrawal is a member of No Azure for Apartheid and shares videos of its activities on her social media accounts.
