Indian-origin techie Vaniya Agrawal, who confronted Bill Gates, Satya Nadella, Steve Ballmer, disrupts another Microsoft event

Vaniya Agrawal, an Indian-origin software engineer who grabbed headlines around the world for disrupting Microsoft's 50th anniversary celebrations last month with pro-Palestine slogans, is back in the news for a similar incident. Vaniya and many other pro-Palestine activists protested for days, affecting the just-concluded Microsoft Build 2025 conference in Seattle, Washington, US.

Series of disruptions
The disruptions began right on the first day of the event, May 19, when an employee interrupted Microsoft chief executive (CEO) Satya Nadella's keynote speech by shouting "Free Palestine."
The next day, a Palestinian tech worker disturbed company executive Jay Parikh's Azure AI presentation, demanding, "Cut ties! No Azure for apartheid!"

Microsoft criticism
Microsoft has been facing mounting criticism from many, including a number of its own employees, for its dealings with the government of Israel over its ongoing conflict with the bordering Gaza Strip. Microsoft has notably been supplying cloud infrastructure to the Israeli Ministry of Defence.

Vaniya's previous act
Vaniya became a popular face of the resistance against tech companies supporting Israel after she confronted Microsoft founder Bill Gates, former CEO Steve Ballmer, and the current CEO Nadella as they were holding an onstage interaction. "Fifty-thousand Palestinians in Gaza have been murdered with Microsoft technology. How dare you? Shame on all of you for celebrating on their blood," she shouted at the event, following which she was escorted out.
Soon after, she announced her resignation from the company.
The Israel-Gaza conflict, which saw a drastic escalation in late-2023, has led to a humanitarian crisis in Gaza as the region faces a severe shortage of food and other basic needs.