Vaniya Agrawal, Indian-origin techie, disrupts Microsoft event over Gaza again
The high-profile AI security session was abruptly interrupted on day three of the conference during a keynote led by Neta Haiby, Microsoft's Head of AI Security, and Sarah Bird, Head of Responsible AI. Agrawal and Nasr entered the venue and loudly accused the company of complicity in the ongoing war in Gaza, demanding that Microsoft sever its ties with the Israeli military.
The protest marked the third consecutive day of disruptions at the Build 2025 event. On May19, a Microsoft employee interrupted CEO Satya Nadella's keynote speech, criticising the company's relationship with Israel. The following day, a Palestinian tech professional disrupted a session led by Jay Parikh, Executive Vice President of Microsoft CoreAI, urging the company to 'cut ties' with Israel during his Azure AI presentation.
This latest disruption is not the first time Vaniya Agrawal has protested at a Microsoft event.
In April, Agrawal -- then an engineer in Microsoft's AI division -- confronted the company's current and former CEOs, Satya Nadella, Steve Ballmer, and Bill Gates, at its headquarters in Washington. She accused them of using Microsoft's technology to support what she described as "genocide in the Gaza Strip".
Following the confrontation, Agrawal submitted a strongly worded resignation letter, announcing her final day would be 11 April, just days after the incident. In her letter, she wrote that she could no longer work for a company that, in her view, sided with oppressors rather than standing in solidarity with the oppressed.
Agrawal also criticised Microsoft's reported $133 million contract with Israel's Ministry of Defence, claiming that the company's AI and Azure cloud services were directly enabling military actions against Palestinians.
'Microsoft cloud and AI make the Israeli military more lethal and destructive in Gaza,' she wrote in a company-wide email shortly after confronting the CEO on stage.
Agrawal had joined Microsoft in September 2023 after more than three years at Amazon and had been working in the AI division.
Following the April protest, Microsoft dismissed two employees — including Agrawal — who had disrupted the company's 50th anniversary event. The company described their actions as 'hostile, unprovoked, and highly inappropriate'.
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