Xbox co-founder J Allard has joined Amazon

He’s working on “new ideas” as vice president of product

Xbox co-founder J Allard has joined Amazon as a vice president on its devices and services team.

It’s the part of Amazon’s business that’s responsible for the Alexa voice assistant and Echo devices, Ring, Kindle, Fire TV, and its Luna clud gaming service, among other products and initiatives.

Amazon confirmed to GeekWire that Allard will be reporting to former Microsoft chief product officer Panos Panay, who joined Amazon last year to lead its devices and services team.

Allard also told The Verge it was “too early to have anything to say” about what he’ll be working on beyond “new ideas.”

He helped ship over 40 products at Microsoft, where he worked from 1991 to 2010, including the Zune portable media player.

As chief experience officer and chief technology officer of the company’s Entertainment and Devices Division, he co-founded Xbox, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade and Xbox 360.

Prior to overseeing the company’s entry into the video games industry, Allard was also a key figure in bringing Microsoft into the internet age.

After leaving Microsoft Allard spent most of his time running Project 529, a company he founded to help combat bike theft and promote cycling. He also had spells at the likes of GoFundMe and Intellivision.