In internal meeting, Microsoft execs share a plan to ward off AI coding rivals by overhauling GitHub (www.businessinsider.com)

Microsoft executives outlined an aggressive plan in an internal meeting to overhaul GitHub and fend off new AI coding rivals like Cursor and Anthropic’s Claude Code by making GitHub’s AI capabilities available “wherever developers work.” Facing erosion of mindshare despite Copilot’s earlier lead, Microsoft is repositioning GitHub as the central platform for AI-powered software development: integrated across CLI, browsers, IDEs (e.g., VS Code), other Microsoft products and acting as a dashboard to orchestrate multiple AI agents and models. Jay Parikh, now leading CoreAI, emphasized faster shipping cadence and a push to give developers choice of surfaces, modes and models rather than relying solely on OpenAI. Technically, Microsoft plans both UX and infra upgrades: deeper integration of GitHub Actions (CI/CD automation), richer analytics/insights, stronger security and compliance (including local data residency), and expanded country availability. The company is also updating Visual Studio and considering internal metrics that reward AI adoption. The move signals a strategic shift from a single-app mindset to platform-first, multi-model support—positioning GitHub as a unified control plane for code, pipelines, agent orchestration and model choice, which could reshape developer workflows and competition in the AI-assisted programming market.