The 33-year-old executive Satya Nadella is trusting to fix Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant

Early this year, Jacob Andreou had a crucial goal. The Microsoft executive set out to order a McDonald’s cheeseburger to his apartment across from the company’s Silicon Valley campus using a homegrown AI tool. Andreou and his team had worked nonstop to get the tool, named Copilot Tasks, up and running. If the AI agent inside Tasks could autonomously order the burger and get it to Andreou’s home, it would prove the tool worked as designed.

By the time Andreou reached his apartment, the burger had arrived.

What made the accomplishment so notable inside Microsoft is that Andreou, a polished 33-year-old executive with Hollywood ties and a knack for pitching and presentations, had been hands-on with software developers to release Tasks, employees said. It’s one reason the fast-rising executive has won respect from colleagues: He is technically savvy and immerses himself in projects.

The speed at which the tool was completed, which was about two months, also impressed Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella, who has placed great trust in Andreou to guide Copilot, the company’s pivotal AI product, in a more competitive direction. Having fallen behind after leading early in the AI ...