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Reid Hoffman Leaves Microsoft Board To Focus On Manus AI

Former Microsoft board member Reid Hoffman has stepped down from the company’s board, marking a return to startup building and investment activities. Hoffman joined Microsoft’s board following the company’s $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn in 2016.

Strategic Investment And Board Leadership

During his time on the board, Hoffman was involved in a period of significant investment in artificial intelligence, including Microsoft’s first $1 billion investment in OpenAI in 2019. As an early investor in OpenAI, Hoffman also served on the organisation’s board before stepping down in 2023 to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

Acqui-Hire Deals And AI Synergies

Hoffman’s board tenure coincided with significant strategic moves, including Microsoft’s $650 million acqui-hire deal involving his AI startup, Inflection AI. This arrangement, which saw Microsoft adding Inflection co-founder Mustafa Suleyman to its ranks, highlights the increasingly blurred lines between corporate reinvention and startup innovation in the tech landscape.

Return to Founder Mode With Manus AI

In a recent conversation on his “Possible” podcast with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Hoffman revealed his excitement to return to “founder mode” with his latest venture, Manus. This AI-driven drug discovery startup has already raised over $50 million through early seed rounds, marking it as a promising player in the competitive field of AI in healthcare.

Leadership Under Visionary Guidance

Hoffman serves as co-founder and chair of Manus AI. Day-to-day leadership is led by Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, a physician, biologist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. The company is focused on applying artificial intelligence to chemistry and drug discovery, including research related to cancer treatment. Hoffman’s departure from Microsoft’s board comes as he increases his focus on new ventures in artificial intelligence and healthcare.

Eurobank Plans €1 Billion Investment In AI And Digital Banking By 2028

Eurobank plans to invest about €1 billion in technology from 2025 through 2028, its largest technology investment program to date. The Banking Forward strategy focuses on digital banking, artificial intelligence, customer experience and a “phygital” model combining digital services with face-to-face support.

Digital Banking Dominates Customer Activity

Digital channels already account for 96% of Eurobank transactions, with 61% completed through the Eurobank Mobile App. Among customers aged 35 and under, digital adoption reaches 94%.

Customers make about 574 million annual logins across e/m-banking and more than 1 million digital transactions each day. During the first half of 2026, one in three banking products was acquired digitally.

AI Moves Into Everyday Banking

Eurobank is expanding the use of AI through tools including EVA, its digital customer assistant, and myEVA, an AI-powered voice assistant for employees. The technology is also being applied to mortgage assessments, customer feedback analysis and contractual documents.

The bank’s technology architecture is built around five areas: digital channels, customer experience orchestration, data and AI, core banking, and infrastructure and cloud. About 50% of its applications and digital channels are already cloud-based.

Investment Extends Beyond Technology

The program is intended to reshape how Eurobank operates, combining automation and AI with employee development and human support. The bank says the approach is designed to improve services while maintaining access to face-to-face banking when customers need it.

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