# Kya Sainsbury-Carter

> Kya Sainsbury-Carter spent over 20 years at Microsoft, most recently as Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Advertising, where she led a global ads business generating more than $18 billion in annual gross revenue. She oversaw the division's transformation through AI-powered and agentic advertising, expanded retail media, and enterprise partnerships before departing in May 2026 - with LinkedIn's Matt Derella named to succeed her.

- **Role:** Former Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Advertising
- **Organizations:** Microsoft
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor's degree, International Business, University of Arkansas (Sam M. Walton College of Business), MBA, International Business, Thunderbird School of Global Management
- **Known for:** Led Microsoft Advertising's global business to $18+ billion in annual gross revenue, Drove the transformation of Microsoft Advertising's operating model toward AI and agentic advertising, Scaled revenue engines across enterprise, SMB, and partner channels

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Worked in client service, product management, e-commerce, cloud computing, and financial analysis; early tech roles at Compaq and Hewlett-Packard; also worked in restaurant management and at a startup
- **2006** — Joined Microsoft as Director of US Advertising Sales
- **2006-2020s** — Held progressively senior roles at Microsoft across partner sales, retail media, sales strategy, and operations
- **2020s** — Named Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Advertising, leading a global team and $18B+ annual gross revenue business
- **May 2025** — Published strategic vision for Microsoft Advertising's AI-powered, conversational, and agentic future
- **May 2026** — Announced departure from Microsoft after 20+ years; LinkedIn's Matt Derella named successor with expanded mandate

## Achievements

- Led Microsoft Advertising's global business to $18+ billion in annual gross revenue
- Drove the transformation of Microsoft Advertising's operating model toward AI and agentic advertising
- Scaled revenue engines across enterprise, SMB, and partner channels
- Won AdExchanger's 'Best in Business' award for Microsoft Advertising
- Championed retail media expansion at Microsoft
- Articulated Microsoft Advertising's strategic vision for conversational, personal, and agentic AI advertising (May 2025)
- Served 20+ years at Microsoft across multiple senior leadership roles

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — Departed Microsoft after 20+ years; LinkedIn's Matt Derella named successor with expanded mandate over both LinkedIn Marketing Solutions and Microsoft Advertising
- **2025-05** — Published strategic vision blog post for Microsoft Advertising's future focused on conversational, personal, and agentic AI advertising
- **2026-02** — Microsoft Advertising announced discontinuation of Microsoft Invest platform support under her leadership (effective Feb 28, 2026)

## Links

- Website: https://about.ads.microsoft.com/en/blog/author/kya-sainsbury-carter
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyasainsburycarter/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/kyasc

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/kya-sainsbury-carter
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Last updated: 2026-05-31