Microsoft has appointed industry veteran Kevin Scott as the chief technology officer of its worldwide business, reporting directly to CEO Satya Nadella.

Scott will continue to serve as vice president of infrastructure at LinkedIn, where he has held a number of senior positions over the past six years.

Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn received regulatory approval from the European Commission in the beginning of December, paving way for the two companies to merge their assets.

“We are thrilled that Kevin will bring to Microsoft his unique expertise developing platforms and services that empower people and organizations,” Nadella said. “Kevin’s first area of focus is to bring together the world’s leading professional network and professional cloud.”

Engineer to the bone

Before his tenure at LinkedIn, Scott worked as an engineer, and later engineering manager, at Google. He then helped create AdMob, a mobile advertising startup which was sold to Google in July 2010 for $750 million.

Scott served as a Technical Advisory Board Member at cloud storage company Box, and remains an advisor at Pinterest. He also established Behind the Tech, a non-profit organization that works to celebrate the achievements of engineers, computer scientists, researchers and developers that make technology possible, but rarely receive the credit they deserve.

“The thing that gets me up in the morning and that has always excited me about technology is its role in empowering people and helping to enrich their lives,” Scott said.

“I am very optimistic about where Microsoft is headed and how we can continue to use technology to solve some of society’s most important challenges.”

Scott will continue to play an active role at LinkedIn as senior vice president of Infrastructure and will remain a member of LinkedIn’s executive management team.