ML268: William A. Adams (Leader)

Master Leadership

William A. Adams is an award-winning D&I innovator, engineering trailblazer, and philanthropist. After rolling out critical XML code globally in many of Microsoft's core products, he was named the first Technical Advisor to the CTO of Azure, Kevin Scott.

William has founded and overseen global initiatives that revolutionize how underserved communities access jobs and build careers at the company. As co-founder of the LEAP apprenticeship program – named Microsoft’s D&I Program of the Year in 2020 – he helped launch the training of more than 26 cohorts around the world. Today, 98% of LEAP participants have jobs in Microsoft or other high-tech companies. His most recent collaboration is with the U.S. Virgin Islands to establish and train a technical talent pool and build critical technical infrastructure.

Early in his 30-year career in software engineering, William was one of the first Black entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. Through his company, Adamation, he developed mission-critical custom enterprise apps for Steve Jobs’ NeXT computers and pioneered a network instant messaging service purchased by the CIA. He holds two patents.

Today, in addition to his role at Microsoft, William is the philanthropic founder of The EV3NT, a collaborative, community-based hackathon designed to solve real-world problems. When he’s not tinkering with bits and bytes, the husband and father of three builds kitchen cabinets, knits, and tries to recapture the exhilaration of riding a motorcycle in India.

More Info: William A. Adams

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