Former Microsoft Developer Division President brings more than three decades of software and AI leadership to Permira
Appointment reflects Permira’s continued commitment to expanding its technology platform following the appointment of Mike Hoffman as Partner in June 2026
Menlo Park, London – 14 September 2026 - Permira, the global investment firm, today announced the appointment of Julia Liuson as a Senior Adviser to its Technology team, based in Menlo Park.
Julia brings more than 30 years of leadership experience across enterprise software, developer tools, cloud services and AI. Most recently, as President of Microsoft's Developer Division, she led the company's global developer business, spanning programming languages, development tools, Azure developer services and DevSecOps platforms, including oversight of GitHub. Earlier, she held a series of engineering and business leadership roles, including leading Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code, two of the world's most widely used software development tools.
At Permira, Liuson will collaborate with the firm’s Technology sector team and portfolio company leadership to accelerate AI adoption and product development as businesses across the portfolio continue to transition to AI-native operating models. She will also bring valuable expertise in product, engineering and AI to due diligence processes as Permira continues to identify and back product-first, category-leading businesses.
Michail Zekkos, Partner & Co-Head of Technology at Permira, added: “Code is increasingly being written by agents, but great engineering remains a human discipline - the architecture, tooling and processes that make AI-native software trustworthy at scale. Few people understand that distinction as well as Julia, who led Microsoft's Developer Division and helped bring Copilot to millions of developers. We're delighted to have her at Permira to help our portfolio companies – which are currently generating over $800 million of AI-native ARR, growing at more than 100% year-on-year – to stay ahead of the curve.”
Ryan Lanpher, Partner & Co-Head of Technology at Permira, said: "Few people in the world today have shaped how software gets built the way Julia did during her time at Microsoft. She ran the division that gave engineers Visual Studio, VS Code and GitHub, the tools an entire generation of developers grew up on. As each of our portfolio companies race to become AI-first, having Julia’s experience in product, as well as her judgment and extensive network, on our side is a huge competitive advantage as we continue to focus on our portfolio delivering AI innovation at scale.”
Julia Liuson, Senior Adviser at Permira, commented: "Throughout my career, I have always believed that the best technology businesses are built with a relentless focus on product and customers. That same product-first philosophy, combined with genuine entrepreneurship and a highly collaborative culture, is what attracted me to Permira.
I’m thrilled to join Michail, Ryan and the team and look forward to working alongside them and their portfolio companies to accelerate AI adoption and help create products that developers and customers love.”
Julia’s appointment follows that of veteran technology investor Mike Hoffman as a Partner in Permira’s Technology team, also based in Menlo Park, as Permira continues to deepen the operating expertise available to its technology portfolio companies.
