J Allard

J Allard (born James Allard, on January 12, 1969, in Glens Falls, New York) was "Chief Experience Officer" and Chief Technology Officer for the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. He also oversaw Microsoft's first foray into the video game industry, the Xbox, and he is also known to have contributed to the first edition of the specification for the Windows Sockets API, with assistance from many others.

Microsoft
The former Chief Experience Officer is known for his historic 1994 memo, "Windows: The Next Killer Application on the Internet", about the coming rise of the Internet. The memo, distributed to Microsoft leaders, reshaped the company's direction. Allard is a 1991 Boston University graduate with a bachelor's degree in computer science, and he received an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Letters) from Boston University at the 2009 Boston University Commencement Ceremony. Allard has also been known to play The Game as part of Team Pink. He was also later found to have gotten 3rd place.

Zune
When Bryan Lee stepped down from his post as Zune Executive in charge of business development, Allard took over as the new executive. Allard overssaw development of the Microsoft Zune, a handheld portable media device, initially seen by some media as a potential iPod rival. Allard has notably signed several artists as part of a broad Zune marketing campaign by Microsoft, which included heavy promotion during Seattle's Bumbershoot festival in 2006.

Exit From Microsoft
Reported on May 25th, 2010, Allard, along with Robbie Bach will be leaving Microsoft. Allard will remain a direct advisor to Steve Ballmer.