Indian-American Engineer Vaniya Agrawal Disrupts Microsoft Events Again, Sparks Pro-Palestine Protests
Microsoft has faced ongoing disruptions at its annual developer conference, Build 2025, following a series of protests by individuals associated with the pro-Palestine movement. The latest incident occurred during a session on AI security, where Vaniya Agrawal, an Indian-American software engineer, and another former employee, Hossam Nasr, disrupted the event to protest the company’s cloud contracts with the Israeli government.
Microsoft Build 2025, the company’s annual developers conference, has seen multiple disruptions in recent days, with protests demanding accountability for Microsoft’s ties to the Israeli government. On May 19, shortly after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella began his keynote address, an employee interrupted the speech, shouting ‘Free Palestine’ and demanding that the CEO address the company’s work with the Israeli government.
Earlier this year, Vaniya Agrawal disrupted Microsoft’s 50th anniversary celebrations, where current and former CEOs, including Satya Nadella, Steve Ballmer, and Bill Gates, were on stage. During the event, Agrawal stood up and shouted, ‘Shame on you all. You’re all hypocrites,’ and accused the CEOs of hypocrisy for celebrating in the blood of 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza. She demanded that Microsoft cut ties with Israel and was escorted out by security.
Following her protest at the anniversary event, Agrawal submitted a resignation email to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and thousands of employees. In the email, she stated that she had been working at the company for over one-and-a-half years. She was immediately terminated after the event, with no completion of her two-week notice period. Another protester, Ibtihal Aboussad, was also fired for similar disruptions at the anniversary event.
Vaniya Agrawal has continued to be active on social media, sharing photos of protests at Microsoft Build 2025 venues. Her posts have been widely shared, highlighting the ongoing tensions between the company and pro-Palestine activists. The incidents have raised questions about the role of corporate responsibility in global conflicts and the impact of public protests on corporate events.
Microsoft has not yet issued a formal statement on the latest disruptions, but the company has faced increasing scrutiny over its policies and public statements regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The events at Build 2025 have drawn attention from both supporters and critics of the company, with many questioning the ethical implications of its business practices in the region.