Dona Sarkar
Most enterprises have bought into generative AI in principle and stalled in practice. Pilots multiply, demos impress, but very few make the jump to operating on proprietary data inside real workflows. The hard question for boards is no longer whether to adopt AI, but how to make it useful at scale without losing control of accessibility, governance and the workforce alongside it.
Dona Sarkar leads Microsoft’s AI and Copilot Extensibility Program and helps organisations turn generative AI from demo into deployed capability on their own data.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with Dona Sarkar
- She runs the program that lets enterprise developers extend Microsoft Copilot onto their own data, so the practical content of her sessions is what she ships day-to-day at Microsoft, not commentary about it.
- She brings a track record of building global technical communities at scale, including the Windows Insider Program of around 20 million members, which informs how she advises leaders on adoption inside large workforces.
- Her work on accessibility and inclusive AI gives organisations a substantive position on responsible AI that goes beyond policy statements into product design and developer practice.
- She codifies her experience into named frameworks her audiences can use, including the SHENANIGANS approach to solving business problems and a structured method for tackling non-promotable work.
- She speaks credibly to the human side of AI transformation, from imposter syndrome in technical careers to mental health conversations at work, drawing on her own published books rather than borrowed material.
Biography highlights
- Chief Troublemaker, Microsoft AI and Copilot Extensibility Program.
- Former Director of Technology for Microsoft Accessibility, leading inclusive design across the company.
- Led the Windows Insider Program from 2016 to 2019, a global community of around 20 million members.
- Author of The Imposter Syndrome Banishing Spell, Model 47: A Startup Storybook and You Had Me at Hello World, alongside three young-adult novels published by Harper Collins.
- Featured in Fast Company’s 100 Most Productive People; profiled in Fast Company and Microsoft’s own publications.
- Founder of Prima Dona, an ethical fashion line based in Seattle, alongside her engineering career.
Biography
Microsoft built Copilot, then had to answer the harder question: how do enterprises actually deploy generative AI on their own data, inside their own workflows, without losing the accessibility, governance and developer discipline that make software trustworthy. That is the program Dona Sarkar runs as Chief Troublemaker for Microsoft’s AI and Copilot Extensibility Program, working directly with the developers and IT leaders responsible for moving AI from pilot to production.
Before this remit she was Director of Technology for Microsoft Accessibility, a role that shaped her view that inclusive design is engineering, not policy. She led the Windows Insider Program from 2016 to 2019, growing it into a global community of around 20 million members who tested early Windows builds, and she has run developer advocacy across HoloLens and Power Platform. Each of those roles required her to translate engineering decisions for non-technical leaders and to turn vague ambitions into concrete adoption.
Outside Microsoft she has published books on imposter syndrome, startup methodology and mentorship, alongside three young-adult novels with Harper Collins. She founded Prima Dona, an ethical fashion line in Seattle, and has coached founders in emerging markets in East and West Africa. Fast Company has named her one of its 100 Most Productive People and profiled her approach to managing complex parallel careers.
For senior buyers, her value is operational credibility on the enterprise AI question boards keep asking. She is not describing a market she observes. She runs the platform inside it.
Key speaking topics
- Enterprise generative AI and Copilot deployment
- Inclusive AI and accessibility in product design
- Developer community and adoption at scale
- The future of work alongside AI agents
- Innovation frameworks for large organisations
- Career advancement and non-promotable work
- Mental health and imposter syndrome in technical careers
Ideal for
- CIOs, CTOs and chief data officers planning enterprise AI deployment
- CHROs and heads of talent designing workforces around AI capability
- Heads of accessibility, DEI and responsible AI
- Engineering and developer relations leaders building internal AI fluency
Audience outcomes
- A clearer view of where Copilot and generative AI add operating value on proprietary data, and where they do not
- A working vocabulary for inclusive AI that connects accessibility decisions to product and engineering practice
- Named frameworks for innovation and career progression that audiences can apply inside their teams
- A more honest conversation about imposter syndrome, mental health and burnout in technical organisations
- A read on Microsoft’s direction of travel on Copilot extensibility from someone responsible for delivering it
Talks
A practical session on where generative AI solves real business problems inside an enterprise, and where it does not.
Key takeaways:
- The categories of business problem that Copilot and generative AI are well suited to today
- How to evaluate AI use cases against your own data and workflows, not vendor demos
- What enterprise developers need to extend Copilot onto proprietary scenarios
A session on building AI products that work for the full range of users, drawn from Sarkar’s accessibility leadership at Microsoft.
Key takeaways:
- Specific techniques for inclusive AI design at product and engineering level
- The organisational roles that drive accessibility outcomes in AI rollouts
- How accessibility and responsible AI reinforce each other in practice
Sarkar’s SHENANIGANS framework for solving business problems through structured experimentation inside large organisations.
Key takeaways:
- A repeatable method for identifying and testing operational experiments
- How to make space for intrapreneurship without losing organisational discipline
- The cultural conditions that allow innovation to survive scale