Shopify CTO Mikhail Parakhin Steps Down After 2 Years, Will Stay On as Advisor

Mikhail Parakhin, chief technology officer (CTO) of Shopify, is stepping down after 2 years in the role and will stay on as an advisor to the company. Before joining Shopify, Parakhin was CEO of Advertising and Web Services at Microsoft and earlier served as CTO of Yandex.

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Shopify did not disclose a reason for Parakhin's departure. A Shopify spokesperson told BetaKit: “As he leaves, we’re grateful for his contributions and glad that he’ll continue as an advisor.”

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How Parakhin Shaped Shopify’s AI Strategy

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During his 2 years as CTO, Parakhin led Shopify’s push into artificial intelligence. Under his leadership, Shopify invested heavily in AI tools for merchants to help employees work faster and develop new features and products more quickly.

Parakhin recently appeared in an advertisement for OpenAI’s Codex, explaining how he used the AI coding tool at Shopify.

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In 2026, TIME named Parakhin one of its tech executives of the year for his work rebuilding the commerce platform for the age of AI.

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Shopify has not yet announced who will succeed Parakhin as CTO.

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Key Facts about Parakhin’s Departure from Shopify

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• Who: Mikhail Parakhin, chief technology officer (CTO) of Shopify
• Time in role: 2 years
• Next role: advisor to Shopify
• Reason for leaving: not disclosed by Shopify
• Successor: not yet announced
• Previous roles: CEO of Advertising and Web Services at Microsoft; CTO of Yandex
• Recognition: named one of TIME’s tech executives of the year in 2026

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