Prized Microsoft Software Engineer Jumps to Rival Google

Blaise Aguera y Arcas, a top Microsoft (MSFT) software engineer and designer, has confirmed in a blog post that he’s “going to Google,” in news first appearing in a New York Times blog.

Aguera y Arcas joined Microsoft in 2006 when the software giant’s Live Labs (whose team transitioned to Bing in October, 2010) acquired his three-year old company Seadragon Software. He was a leading architect on Big Maps Photosynth software to convert photos into 3D and also worked on augmented reality, mapping, wearable computing and natural user interfaces.

His defection to rival Google (GOOG) surely will be felt in Redmond. “He was a great colleague and we wish him the best in his future endeavors,” said a Microsoft spokesperson.

According to the New York Times report, Aguera y Arcas will work on Google’s machine learning projects.

“On one hand, of course this is tremendously exciting; Google is a company of grand ambitions and brilliant people,” he wrote. “On the other hand it has been hard—very hard—to detach emotionally from Microsoft,” adding that Microsoft’s “leadership has been consistently good to me.”

Leaving Microsoft, Aguera y Arcas said, was “painful to leave behind so many wonderful ongoing projects, and even more so to leave behind such a great team,” calling the move “the hardest decision of my life.”

His departure comes only a week after Microsoft rolled out its latest 3D version of Photosynth, kicked off as a new Bing Maps app preview showcasing new modes spin, panorama, walk and wall.

Aguera y Arcas, who attained Distinguished Engineer status at Microsoft, probably received his biggest career boost when in 2007, he delivered a TED Talk on Seadragon and Photosynth regarded as one of the series' "most jaw-dropping." He returned to TED Talks in 2010 to showcase Bing’s augmented reality maps.