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Who is Vaniya Agrawal, the Indian-American software engineer who disrupted Microsoft's two events this year

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The Times Of Indiapublisher-detail-arrow
24th May, 2025 13:23 IST
An Indian- American software engineer has disrupted two of Microsoft’s biggest events this year. The first incident occurred in April when the company celebrated its 50th anniversary in April when Vaniya Agarwal interrupted a panel featuring Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, and Satya Nadella, accusing them of “celebrating on the blood" of Palestinians. In the second incident, Agrawal disrupted Microsoft’s annual developer conference when she, along with another fired Microsoft employee Hossam Nasr , shouted at the company’s head of security for AI, Neta Haiby. The two protested against the company’s cloud contracts with the Israeli government.

Agarwal, after her protest at the company's anniversary celebrations, was fired shortly by Microsoft. She also sent out a mass email, saying she had decided to leave Microsoft and her last day will be April 11.


“Hi all, My name is Vaniya, and after 1.5 years as a software engineer at this company,


Iʼve decided to leave Microsoft. My last day is next Friday, April 11. You may have seen

me stand up earlier today to call out Satya during his speech at the Microsoft 50th

anniversary. Hereʼs why I decided to leave the company, and why I spoke up today,"

Vaniya wrote in the email. Here’s what we know about Agrawal who has now become a popular face in tech-sector ‘activism’


What Vaniya Agrawal ’s LinkedIn profile reads

According to her LinkedIn profile, Vaniya Agrawal studied Software Engineering at Arizona State University. Agrawal began her career at Amazon in September 2019 as a Software Development Engineer. She was later promoted during her three-year tenure.

In 2023, she moved to Microsoft, where she now works as a Software Engineer in the Artificial Intelligence division. While she was fired by Microsoft in April, her LinkedIn profile still reads “Software Engineer at Microsoft”.

Before moving into the tech industry, Ms. Agrawal explored a range of roles. She worked as a medical assistant in Naperville, Illinois, in 2016. A year earlier, she took on the role of a tea consultant, and in 2014, she briefly worked as a pharmacy technician. In addition, she ran a small business on Etsy from 2012 to 2014, selling handmade items through her shop, Vannushka.


Is Vaniya Agrawal on Twitter, Instagram

Vaniya Agrawal has been sharing videos of her protest at Microsoft event on her Instagram and Twitter accounts. Sharing photos from the protest at Microsoft Build 2025 event in one such post on Instagram, she wrote: “WHILE YOU WERE AT MICROSOFT BUILD, HOW MUCH BLOOD HAS BEEN SPILLED?🗣️🗣️ MICROSOFT, YOU CAN'T HIDE! YOU MAKE TECH FOR GENOCIDE!”





Agrawal is also a member of “No Azure for Apartheid” group. She has been constantly sharing posts by the group.






When Vaniya Agrawal ‘shamed’ Microsoft leadersDisrupting Microsoft’s 50th anniversary event last month, Agrawal shouted at a panel of Microsoft CEOs – current Satya Nadella; and former CEOs Steve Ballmer and co-founder Bill Gates. She said “Shame on you all. Youʼre all hypocrites. 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been murdered with Microsoft technology. How dare you. Shame on all of you for celebrating in their blood. Cut ties with Israel.”

Vaniya was escorted out by the security immediately.

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