A 35-year-old software engineer, Pratik Pandey, was found dead at Microsoft’s Silicon Valley campus in the early hours of Wednesday, prompting shock across the tech community. Family members said Pandey often worked late into the night.
According to reports, Pandey had badged into the office on the evening of August 19 and was discovered dead the following morning. The Santa Clara County medical examiner has not yet confirmed the cause of death. Police responded to the scene around 2 a.m. on August 20 and said there were no signs of foul play. The death is not being treated as part of a criminal investigation. Microsoft has not issued a statement regarding the incident.
Pandey was a key member of Microsoft’s Fabric team, a data analytics product that competes with platforms like Snowflake. He reported to Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of cloud and AI at Microsoft.
Before joining Microsoft in 2020, Pandey worked at companies including Walmart and Apple. He held two master’s degrees — one in Computer Science from California State University, Long Beach, and another in Computer Software Engineering from San Jose State University. He completed his undergraduate studies at Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya in Madhya Pradesh, India.
The news of Pandey’s sudden death has left colleagues and the wider tech community deeply saddened. Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding his passing.
