Box Enlists Former Microsoft Exec Steven Sinofsky as Advisor

Box has brought on Steven Sinofsky to act as an advisor to the growing cloud company. Sinofsky, a former Microsoft executive who ran the Windows division and was responsible for the development of cloud apps like SkyDrive, was one of the many executives thought to be the future Microsoft CEO before he parted ways with the technology giant last November.

According to a blog post by Aaron Levie, Box co-founder and CEO, he and Sinofsky have gotten to know one another over the last six months after they first connected on Facebook.

Sinofsky had worked for Microsoft for more than 20 years, and Levie noted in his post that he sought to bring the former executive on board. That makes a lot of sense, considering Sinofsky’s cloud experience at Microsoft, which not only included SkyDrive, but also SharePoint and Office 365.

“Steven has a stronger and more fluid vision for the future of computing than almost anyone I’ve met,” Levie wrote.

Microsoft’s loss seems to be Box’s gain. Sinofsky is frequently seen as a visionary in the tech space, and based on some of his comments and writings, he is looking beyond the computing era formed by the introduction and proliferation of PCs. And that future is looking more and more like a truly connected world that connects all aspects of computing and puts it in the cloud — and at our fingertips, no matter where we physically are.

It’s too bad for Microsoft, as that seems like the kind of leadership it could use in the upcoming post-Steve Ballmer era. Not that Sinofsky hasn’t made his share of errors. (Windows 8, anyone?) There was certainly a lack of foresight in the development of the latest Windows version, although even as some of the features are making computing trickier for users, it is the most cloud-centric version of Windows developed to date. And Sinofsky and his team at Microsoft were largely responsible for that.

“Steven has spent much of his career thinking about technology transformations, navigating them, and — in many cases — helping to drive them. We’re very excited to have him advising us as we hopefully bring the next generation of tools to the next billion workers,” Levie wrote.