Who was Soma Somasegar? Indian-origin techie with 27 years experience at Microsoft dies at 59

In news that shocked Silicon Valley, Indian-origin tech veteran S 'Soma' Somasegar passed away at the age of 59. Somasegar was a former Microsoft executive and managing director at Madrona Venture Group.

Sharing a solemn tribute on its official website, Madrona confirmed "Soma Somasegar passed away unexpectedly" on May 19. Describing him as "unique at every level," the company acknowledged that the Indian-origin officials who often swore by multiple identities, including technologist, executive and investor, "raised the bar on what we expected of ourselves professionally and more importantly personally." The cause of his death has not been revealed publicly yet.

Tech industry mourns a veteran

As soon as the news of Somasegar's passing was announced, numerous tech industry titans began pouring in their tributes for the veteran.

Chennai-born entrepreneur and US President Donald Trump's AI advisor Sriram Krishnan took to X (formerly Twitter) to share that Somasegar played a defining role in shaping his and his wife Aarthi Ramamurthy's careers. “It’s hard to articulate how much of an impact Soma had on @aarthir and me. He spotted us out of undergrad, made sure we got our first jobs, spent time with us though he was a senior executive at Microsoft and we were random junior people and showered us with kindness,” he wrote. Over the years, he shared that Somasegar transformed into a mentor who would tell them how proud he was of where they had gotten. "We genuinely wouldn’t have the lives and careers we have now without him. I’m still in shock and so deeply heartbroken. It’s a truly sad day,” he added.

Former Microsoft executive Steven Sinofsky also paid tribute to the veteran, recalling their decades-long association at the company. “Heartbroken to share this news of a friend and long-time colleague. We started at Microsoft months apart, both grad school dropouts. Our work paths intertwined for more than two decades on everything from the first NT through dev tools with a good deal of college recruiting all along. His contributions to Microsoft and culture were as legendary as the admiration and respect he earned from generations of the Softies he guided and led. Om Shanti, Soma,” Sinofsky wrote.

Who was Soma Somasegar?

Soma Somasegar was born in 1966 in Puducherry and built a decades-long career in the global technology industry. He chose to pursue the American dream over a career at the Indian Space Research Organisation. Post his bachelor's degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Guindy Engineering College, Anna University, Chennai, he was picked as a research scientist by the agency. However, he chose to pursue a master's in computer engineering at Louisiana State University (LSU).

The same drive led him to Microsoft where he maintained a 27-year-long career. He joined the big tech in 1989 and led the company's Developer Division along with helming the Visual Studio and .NET family of products. He was also responsible for the company's R&D labs in Boston, China, India and Israel and contributed to the release of Windows.

In November 2015, he left Microsoft as a Corporate Vice President to become the Managing Director of Madrona, a venture capital firm. He still held the title before his death and also served as a member of the Board of Directors at UiPath. '

Sadly, hours before his untimely death, he had expressed gratitude for being included in the 'SEED 100' list and honouring him as the "best early investors of 2026."

He is survived by his wife Akila and two daughters who all lived in Seattle with him.