San Francisco, Aug 18 (IANS): Microsoft has hired Manik Gupta, former head of product at Uber, as the tech giant aims to strengthen its consumer apps portfolio.

Gupta, who was Chief product Officer at Uber and also saw product management for Google Maps in his earlier stints, will be responsible for Microsoft Teams consumer, Skype and GroupMe, reports The Verge.

He will report directly to Jeff Teper, Microsoft's head of Microsoft 365 collaboration.

"I am thrilled to announce that we have hired Manik Gupta, as Corporate Vice President for Teams Consumer, Skype, and GroupMe. Manik will report directly to me assuming general management leadership for our end-to-end consumer strategy, vision, and execution," Teper said in an internal memo.

"Manik's experience at Uber as Chief Product Officer, at Google as Director PM for Google Maps, and his current role as an investor and advisor to early-stage, high-growth technology companies, will be invaluable to us building world-class consumer experiences across all of Microsoft," he added.

Manik will officially start on August 30 and will be based in the Bay Area, San Francisco.

"This fall Windows 11 -- with Microsoft Teams -- represents one of the most important milestones for us to delight users and grow our consumer business" Teper said.

Gupta joined the ride-hailing company in 2015 from Google.

Microsoft is currently focused on creators and communities, and how best to leverage its Cloud capabilities to have a consumer-focused app or community.