For the former Xbox boss, gaming has always been about connection.
Sarah Bond is one of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year, which recognizes women who have made a significant impact in their communities and beyond. Introducing this year’s winners here.
REDMOND, Wash. – Sarah Bond fondly remembers sitting next to her father playing King’s Quest II, solving puzzles, navigating mazes, and unlocking doors to rescue a beautiful maiden, Princess Valanice, from captivity.
Six-year-old Bond had no idea where the maze would take him or what lay beyond the doors of reality. How her video adventures in the land of Kolyma landed her in Xbox’s front office as the first Black woman to lead a major global gaming platform before stepping down on February 20th.
“I was totally a gamer when I was a kid,” Bond, 47, told USA TODAY in January. “My dad was a huge gamer, so spending time together was one of the things we did. It was a big part of how we connected.”
It shaped the way she thought about the game. It’s as a way to share experiences and achievements with others who may not look like you, may not speak your language, or may not live in the same country as you. And she set out to make that inclusive worldview a reality.
chart your own path
Unlike the typical programmer-to-studio-head path, Bond landed the top job based on the strategy and deal-making experience he learned during his years as a consultant at McKinsey & Company and chief of staff to former CEO John Legere at T-Mobile. Bond joined Microsoft in 2017 as corporate vice president, products and experiences for game creators, and was named president of Xbox in 2023.
“I’ve always loved consumer technology,” says Bond. At Yale, STEM and business courses called her name. He then earned a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University. After graduating, “I decided, ‘I’m going to go into consumer technology.’ I love the intersection of rapid advances in technology and the ability to really impact the consumer experience. And at the time, people actually said to me, ‘Hey, that doesn’t make much sense.'”
It was the early 2000s. “We didn’t have iPhones yet,” Bond says. “Facebook wasn’t an IPO.” But she stuck with it. “I never thought about games explicitly, I just thought about influencing technology.
“And that’s when I realized that what I actually started with was gaming, and that was a big part of my experience growing up. But I never had the opportunity to get into gaming from a business perspective,” she continues. “So as soon as I saw the opportunity, it clicked in my mind. I was like, ‘Let’s jump into this with two feet.'”
Making history while looking to the future: Sarah Bond talks leadership, learning and risk
Sarah Bond, former president of Xbox and gaming industry pioneer, says great leaders have a growth mindset. She is one of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year.
Many saw her appointment as a breath of fresh air. Approximately 3 billion people around the world play video games every day, making it an estimated $522.45 billion industry. According to the Entertainment Software Association’s 2025 World Video Games Report, as many as 52% of gamers in the United States are women.
However, a report from financial technology company Xsolla found that of more than 60 gaming companies, only 5% have women in leadership roles, and just 12% of leaders have diverse backgrounds.
Bond’s background uniquely prepared her to break the proverbial glass ceiling. “I’ve spent most of my life in positions that I wasn’t necessarily suited for,” she says. “I’m a woman who has always worked in male-dominated environments. I’ve lived in many different places around the world. I’m a black woman, but I’ve often been in places where white people aren’t the majority.”
“Early in my career, it felt very isolating,” she continues. “At some point, I realized that the chances of meeting someone exactly like me were very low, but because of all the experiences I’ve had and the perspectives I’ve been exposed to, there’s a good chance I have something in common with everyone I meet, and that’s what I should focus on.
“So rather than seeing this as a burden, we see it as an opportunity to build bridges, share understanding, and further advance the way we see the world,” she says. “And I get a lot of energy from that.”
As cloud gaming grows, Xbox has focused its energy on helping brands move beyond gaming consoles to an “anywhere” approach. She spearheaded Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard and championed inclusivity across the industry.
“I think my secret superpower is finding patterns in the noise: white spaces and pockets of opportunity that others don’t notice,” she says. “A true system that helps you unlock opportunities and set the direction for your team to really break through and do new things.”
Always moving, always learning
The ability to succeed in a new environment is something she learned growing up. Bond’s family (she is one of seven children) moved five times by the time she was 10 years old. Her father worked for a telecommunications company, and at the time, employees moved around based on work demands. New Jersey. Colorado. Massachusetts. At the age of 10, Bond went abroad to boarding school in England.
She didn’t know what would happen next, but she knew more was on the horizon – more mazes to navigate, more puzzles to solve, more doors to unlock.
She credits her parents for her curiosity and determination. “They always instilled in me a sense that I was in control of my outcome, that my efforts were truly contributing to my growth. They taught me that it’s totally okay to try something and not be perfect the first time,” she says. “I think that’s one of the things my dad was trying to teach me when I was playing the game. It’s a great training ground because frankly, even when you’re playing the game, you’re on the first level and you’re going to die.”
“But people don’t really die,” she continues. “Because you come back, you try again, and you go a little bit, a little bit, a little bit more. You keep trying, you keep trying, and you find that all of a sudden you can do things that you never could have done when you first started.”
So is game night something to do with her own kids? Ah, that’s right.
Her daughter (14 years old) and son (11 years old) are both gamers. It reminds Bond of the time he spent with his father.
“The great thing I’ve discovered is that compared to most other things you can do in the tech industry, gaming is really unique and has this beautiful marriage of art and science,” she said. “There are experiences that people get in games that they don’t get in other games.” There’s no doubt that she’ll be taking some time off before her next big role. Her husband is a stay-at-home dad, and before her departure from Xbox was announced, she said she wanted to trade jobs with him for a day. “You know how your kids only talk about their day the second they get in the car? I want to be that person in the car,” she told USA TODAY. I think I’ll have time to share a few other favorites with you. “Bridgerton” is a guilty pleasure. “I love English quotes because I grew up in England. They’re so beautiful and decadent, and they’re always fun and entertaining stories,” she says. And books are a lifelong love. “An opportunity to just read two more books a year? If I had an extra hour a day, I’d definitely take advantage of it.”
She spent several weeks helping Xbox’s new CEO Asha Sharma settle into the role. Another bridge from one woman to another.
“Creating opportunities for other people and seeing them succeed is the best. That’s the best,” she says.
Suzette Hackney is a national columnist. Contact her at: @suzyscribe
