GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke to Step Down as AI Coding Rivalry Heats Up
Microsoft’s GitHub is set for a major leadership change as CEO Thomas Dohmke announced his departure after nearly four years at the helm. The move comes at a time when the AI-powered coding market is experiencing unprecedented competition.
Key Facts:
- Departure Timeline: Dohmke will leave at the end of 2025 but will remain temporarily to ensure a smooth transition.
- Reason for Exit: He says he plans to “become a founder again” after his tenure at GitHub.
- Leadership Shift: Three senior executives — Vladimir Fedorov, Kyle Daigle, and Elizabeth Pemmerl — will now report to Microsoft CoreAI executive Julia Liuson.
- GitHub’s Position in Microsoft: GitHub remains part of Microsoft’s CoreAI group, led by former Meta executive Jay Parikh.
- User Growth: Under Dohmke’s leadership, GitHub’s registered developers more than doubled, from 73 million in 2021 to over 150 million in 2025.
AI Competition on the Rise
- Early AI Push: GitHub launched Copilot in 2021 with Microsoft and OpenAI, giving it a first-mover advantage in AI-assisted coding.
- New Rivals: The market now includes fast-growing players like Cursor (Anysphere), Replit, and Windsurf, which Google recently tapped in a $2.4 billion AI hiring deal.
- Developer Trends: A 2025 Stack Overflow survey found:
- 76% of developers use Visual Studio Code
- 18% use Cursor
- 10% use Claude Code
- 5% use Windsurf
- None of these AI tools appeared in the same section of last year’s survey.
Microsoft’s AI Ambitions
- Investment Scale: Microsoft plans to invest tens of billions annually in AI infrastructure and development.
- Copilot Growth: 20 million people now use Copilot, with enterprise adoption up 75% quarter-over-quarter.
- Vision: Dohmke predicts “one billion developers enabled by billions of AI agents” in the near future.
What’s Next:
GitHub will continue under Microsoft’s CoreAI umbrella as competition for AI-driven developer tools accelerates. With new market entrants, shifting developer preferences, and a surge in AI adoption, the post-Dohmke era will test GitHub’s ability to maintain its edge.