Panos Panay, Microsoft’s longtime product chief for Surface and Windows devices, is stepping down. The company says he will “turn the page to a new chapter in his life,” but he won’t present at Thursday’s event unveiling next-generation Surface hardware. A post on his X blog, where he has often teased new Surface form factors and features, echoes that sentiment, saying he’s “pumped to announce a new chapter this week.”

The move comes just days before Microsoft (MSFT.O) holds a hardware event in New York, where it is expected to unveil Surface form factors that could give it the momentum it has needed to overcome slumping PC sales in recent years. Microsoft’s device unit has been a loss-maker for years despite the software and services business that makes up the majority of the company’s profits. Still, its efforts to reshape the industry have only sometimes had the desired effect.

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As the exec in charge of those units, Panay has been a mainstay at the company’s events, where he’s introduced the latest Surface products and boasted about their design and features. He’s also been a face of the company in advertising and social media, promoting Microsoft’s vision for a world powered by generative AI.

That enthusiasm was, in part, what drove investors to back the firm’s expensive investment in Surface, and it may have been part of what landed him a spot on the executive team that advises CEO Satya Nadella. But his tenure was marred by hardware failures, most recently with the now-out-of-support Surface Duo, and slumping sales that have continued to plague the company’s overall PC business.

Reuters reports that the company is replacing Panay with Yusuf Mehdi, who oversees its consumer marketing efforts. In an internal email sent to staff, Rajesh Jha, the executive vice president of experiences and devices at Microsoft, said Mehdi will lead a team that “is focused on building silicon, systems, and devices that span Surface, Windows, and client & cloud solutions for an AI-driven world.” The internal email adds that Pavan Davuluri will lead a team focusing on hardware engineering and working with the firm’s efforts to develop its chips.

Bloomberg reported that Panay will be hired by Amazon (AMZN.O) to run the unit responsible for the firm’s Alexa and Echo products. That role was once held by Dave Limp, who was fired in one of last year’s massive rounds of layoffs at the tech giant. Mehdi, who will replace Limp, is reportedly planning to bring more of a PC focus to that division, where Amazon has seen its share of sales and profit troubles. Several people with experience in Amazon’s retail, online, and digital operations will join him. Reuters also notes that Mehdi is a former Apple (AAPL) executive.