{"id":10676,"date":"2018-04-06T09:34:06","date_gmt":"2018-04-06T09:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/?p=10676"},"modified":"2025-07-03T15:32:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T15:32:27","slug":"microsofts-next-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/2018\/04\/06\/microsofts-next-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft\u2019s next act"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"10676\" class=\"elementor elementor-10676\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-63d0127c elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"63d0127c\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-275319e6\" data-id=\"275319e6\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-47cdd02 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"47cdd02\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>In 2014, Satya Nadella was appointed CEO of Microsoft,<\/b>making him only the third leader in the software company\u2019s 40-year history, following Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. Since taking the top job, Nadella has doubled down on cloud computing,\u00a0artificial intelligence\u00a0(AI), and social networking while also pushing Microsoft to become more innovative, collaborative, and customer focused. In 2017, he published\u00a0<i>Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft\u2019s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone<\/i>, a book reflecting on his journey from a cricket-obsessed childhood in India to leadership of one of the world\u2019s largest companies.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b68637a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b68637a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>In this episode of the\u00a0<i>McKinsey Podcast<\/i>, Nadella speaks to McKinsey Publishing\u2019s Simon London about organizational change, the role of culture, the danger of silos, and how companies can confront digital disruption by reframing the business they are in.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4a97270 elementor-widget elementor-widget-hub_fancy_heading\" data-id=\"4a97270\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"hub_fancy_heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div id=\"ld-fancy-heading-6a3fa66b2b871\" class=\"ld-fancy-heading pos-rel\">\n\t\t\t<h4 class=\"ld-fh-element d-inline-block pos-rel  elementor-heading-title lqd-highlight-classic lqd-highlight-grow-left h4\"  > Culture and innovation<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-62cdb90 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"62cdb90\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Simon London:<\/b>\u00a0Well, Satya, thank you for doing this.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-80c598b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"80c598b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Satya Nadella:<\/b>\u00a0Thank you so much for having me.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-25ea90f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"25ea90f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Simon London:<\/b>\u00a0Let\u2019s start with\u00a0culture change, which is a big theme in the book. Clearly, you decided to make it a big theme for this first part of your tenure as CEO. Why culture change compared with other things you could have focused on?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-da9fdb3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"da9fdb3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Satya Nadella:<\/b>\u00a0One of the things that I\u2019ve come to realize is that in companies that have been successful, one of the things that happens is the original idea or the concept that became a hit, the capability you built around it, and the culture that implicitly grew as you were growing the business all get into this beautiful, virtuous cycle. But there\u2019s no such thing as a perpetual-motion machine. At some point, the concept or the idea that made you successful is going to run out of gas. So, you need new capability to go after new concepts. The only thing that\u2019s going to enable you to keep building new capabilities and trying out new concepts long before they are conventional wisdom is culture.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-dbe0c91 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"dbe0c91\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>I would argue that for a successful company, you will have to overemphasize [creating] the right culture so that you can continue to cultivate new capabilities and new concepts. When I became CEO, we were already a 40-year-old company, and I felt that it was very important for us to make culture a first-class, explicit conversation so that we could then reinvent ourselves and invent new things.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9bc18a9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-hub_fancy_heading\" data-id=\"9bc18a9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"hub_fancy_heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div id=\"ld-fancy-heading-6a3fa66b2fe45\" class=\"ld-fancy-heading pos-rel\">\n\t\t\t<h4 class=\"ld-fh-element d-inline-block pos-rel  elementor-heading-title lqd-highlight-classic lqd-highlight-grow-left h4\"  > Business units versus capabilities<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c484063 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c484063\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Simon London:<\/b>\u00a0You\u2019ve got this wonderful trifecta of concept, capability, and culture. But can I introduce a fourth \u201cc\u201d\u2014configuration? This is how a company is organized\u2014the lines and boxes\u2014and the business processes that underpin it. Have you made any process or\u00a0organizational changes\u00a0to support what you\u2019re trying to do?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ddc15ea elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ddc15ea\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Satya Nadella:<\/b>\u00a0That\u2019s actually a very good point. Configuration or structure is superimportant. One of the things that I\u2019ve come to realize is structure can help and, in some sense, reinforce the first three c\u2019s, but it should not get in the way of reinvention or coming up with new concepts. That\u2019s the fundamental challenge.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-df8c551 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"df8c551\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>For example, when the business is doing well, in the name of accountability, in the name of efficiency, in the name of lower transactional costs, you get organized by business unit or what have you. This reinforces the next level of productivity gains, efficiencies, and accountability. The issue is that then it becomes hard to reconflate [recombine] some of the capabilities across these divisions to build new products. This is always a challenge. In tech, it\u2019s even worse because we don\u2019t have long periods of stability. If anything, the periods of stability are short and getting shorter. So, you can use structure sometimes in order to reduce transaction costs and improve efficiency, but in the long run, we [in the technology sector] are much more capability driven. I want a silicon capability. I want a cloud-computing capability. I want an AI capability. I want great product aesthetics in devices. Then we want to be able to take [these capabilities] and apply them to different markets at different times. Without this strategic flexibility, it\u2019s very, very hard.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4d1bc8c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4d1bc8c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>And I would argue that in a world where every business now is a digital business, this is probably one of the bigger challenges. I see this when I talk to many customers who we partner with who have come from, say, an industrial conglomerate or an energy company. It\u2019s very, very hard, because culturally they\u2019re all about business units. But digital recognizes no digital business unit. You need to be able to bring things together. This is probably one of the more transformative changes that many CEOs will have to confront.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5e2223e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5e2223e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Simon London:<\/b>\u00a0The move toward functional capabilities at Microsoft was already in the train before you took over as CEO, wasn\u2019t it? Is there anything you\u2019ve done to accelerate that?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fc96d71 elementor-widget elementor-widget-ld_fancy_image\" data-id=\"fc96d71\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"ld_fancy_image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"lqd-imggrp-single d-block pos-rel \">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"lqd-imggrp-img-container d-inline-flex pos-rel align-items-center justify-content-center \">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"w-100 pos-rel\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"767\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/61\/2025\/07\/1-Satya_smiling-web.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-10680\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/61\/2025\/07\/1-Satya_smiling-web.jpeg 767w, https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/61\/2025\/07\/1-Satya_smiling-web-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/61\/2025\/07\/1-Satya_smiling-web-720x480.jpeg 720w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 767px) 100vw, 767px\" itemprop=\"image\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9318106 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9318106\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Satya Nadella:<\/b>\u00a0Yes, I think this was one of the biggest changes that Steve Ballmer made. It has been superbeneficial. Without it, I don\u2019t think we would have been able to change as much as we have done, because it\u2019s a necessary condition. This [functional] configuration allowed us to reconflate. Otherwise, we would have had a lot more institutional resistance to that just because of what people\u2019s incentives and measurements were. So, it has helped us tremendously.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-27e5212 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"27e5212\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Of course, products and product truth ultimately matters. But to me, what matters is: What are we being hired for? Or customer-in ways of thinking about markets and categories. For example: How are we enabling the modern workplace? It\u2019s not just about Office or Office 365 or Windows or EMS [Enterprise Mobility + Security]. These are all brands and tools and applications we love. But ultimately, we have to deliver to companies the ability to empower their employees so that modern work can happen, they can collaborate, they can communicate in new ways, and companies can get more out of their people. This is very important. We have really changed how we think about customer orientation because of this.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4def25c elementor-widget elementor-widget-hub_fancy_heading\" data-id=\"4def25c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"hub_fancy_heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div id=\"ld-fancy-heading-6a3fa66b36be6\" class=\"ld-fancy-heading pos-rel\">\n\t\t\t<h4 class=\"ld-fh-element d-inline-block pos-rel  elementor-heading-title lqd-highlight-classic lqd-highlight-grow-left h4\"  > Metrics and compensation<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1a2b8d9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1a2b8d9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Simon London:<\/b>\u00a0I\u2019m guessing that you\u2019ve made some changes related to\u00a0performance management, for example, or compensation to reinforce this more cross-functional, cross-business unit customer orientation. Is there anything that you can or want to talk about there?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8254259 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8254259\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Satya Nadella:<\/b>\u00a0One of the big things that we have done at the leadership level is to focus on shared metrics. We make a distinction between what we call \u201cperformance metrics\u201d and \u201cpower metrics.\u201d Performance metrics are in-year revenue and profit and things of that nature. Power metrics are about future-year performance. They are leading indicators of future success and are more about usage and customer love or satisfaction. We have a blend of metrics that are few but shared. A large part of the compensation for me and my leadership team is fundamentally based on that.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-433e0ff elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"433e0ff\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Simon London:<\/b>\u00a0So, that scorecard has been reconfigured during your tenure?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6daa06c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6daa06c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Satya Nadella:<\/b>\u00a0Correct. In fact, a lot of our own tools have become instruments of changing culture. We track metrics such as monthly actives, monthly active versus daily active ratios, consumption, consumption growth. These are all the things that we measure as much as we measure any end-quarter revenue or profit by segment. And these are tied to compensation. Also, it\u2019s not just the leadership team. In the field, our sales culture has changed a lot because we have put a lot of the sales-compensation levers to also go from just the one-time license or bookings to actual consumption, which means it aligns us much better with our customers and their success in using the products and getting benefits out of them.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1a9fb3d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1a9fb3d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>I do believe that if you just talk about culture change and customer obsession without tying it to some of these core levers of how you measure performance, the entire program can come to a knot. In our case, we have been able to take action on all of those levers.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-40b982f elementor-widget elementor-widget-hub_fancy_heading\" data-id=\"40b982f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"hub_fancy_heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div id=\"ld-fancy-heading-6a3fa66b3a4a1\" class=\"ld-fancy-heading pos-rel\">\n\t\t\t<h4 class=\"ld-fh-element d-inline-block pos-rel  elementor-heading-title lqd-highlight-classic lqd-highlight-grow-left h4\"  > Empathy and purpose<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-58679be elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"58679be\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Simon London:<\/b>\u00a0You\u2019ve talked a lot about the need for a culture of greater empathy because it\u2019s only through empathy that you can really understand the unmet needs of customers. Some of these forward-looking metrics feel almost like \u201cempathy metrics.\u201d Are products getting traction? Do customers love them? Are they using them?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5d37cbe elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5d37cbe\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Satya Nadella:<\/b>\u00a0That\u2019s correct. All of us are human. However, when you think about culture as all about business and metrics and scorecards, you can get a lot but it just doesn\u2019t invoke that real, innate capability that we all have. Work is a large part of what we do in life. If it was only about achieving some scorecard metrics, I don\u2019t think that would be enough of a deep meaning.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fc83245 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"fc83245\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Satya Nadella:<\/b>\u00a0That\u2019s correct. All of us are human. However, when you think about culture as all about business and metrics and scorecards, you can get a lot but it just doesn\u2019t invoke that real, innate capability that we all have. Work is a large part of what we do in life. If it was only about achieving some scorecard metrics, I don\u2019t think that would be enough of a deep meaning.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ef7adf0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ef7adf0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The reason I talk about empathy is that I believe this is the leading indicator of success. Innovation comes only when you are able to meet unmet, unarticulated needs\u2014and this comes from a deep sense of empathy we all have. But you can\u2019t go to work and, say, \u201cturn on the empathy button.\u201d Your life\u2019s experience will give you that passion and understanding for a particular customer, a particular use case. How you can connect [your life experience] to your work is what we want to invoke in the 100,000 people who work at Microsoft. All these metrics, which are real compensation drivers, do relate to this. But I don\u2019t think we make decisions thinking that these two things are connected.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-eb52cef elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"eb52cef\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>We as humans all have bounded rationalities, Herbert Simon would say. Therefore, it might, in theory, be correct, but in practice, none of us make decisions thinking of this as connected<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6d54724 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6d54724\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>We as humans all have bounded rationalities, Herbert Simon would say. Therefore, it might, in theory, be correct, but in practice, none of us make decisions thinking of this as connected<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6e77288 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6e77288\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Simon London:<\/b>\u00a0Presumably, part of this is related to\u00a0attracting and retaining talent\u00a0as well. If you want to attract the very best people in highly competitive fields, they want to go to work feeling and knowing that they\u2019re doing something for a purpose. It can\u2019t just be about the extrinsic motivation of the paycheck because talented people could pick that up in any number of different places.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-558e76b elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"558e76b\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-38cc146\" data-id=\"38cc146\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8057677 elementor-widget elementor-widget-hub_fancy_heading\" data-id=\"8057677\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"hub_fancy_heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div id=\"ld-fancy-heading-6a3fa66b3dc4b\" class=\"ld-fancy-heading pos-rel\">\n\t\t\t<h4 class=\"ld-fh-element d-inline-block pos-rel  elementor-heading-title lqd-highlight-classic lqd-highlight-grow-left h4\"  > Focus on the shifts that matter<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2e2cb09 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2e2cb09\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>In our survey, executives told us that their organizations often fail to translate their company\u2019s strategy into a leadership model specific to their needs (whether it is, say, to support a turnaround, a program of acquisitions, or a period of organic growth). Conversely, organizations with successful leadership-development programs were eight times more likely than those with unsuccessful ones to have focused on leadership behavior that executives believed were critical drivers of business performance.<a class=\"link-footnote\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20190321211845\/http:\/\/songhai.com\/blog\/\" rel=\"#footnote1\"><sup>1<\/sup><\/a>The implications are clear for organizations seeking to master today\u2019s environment of accelerating disruption: leadership-development efforts must be animated by those new strategic imperatives, translating them into growth priorities for individual managers, with empathy for the degree of change required. An important piece of the puzzle is enhancing the ability of leaders to adapt to different situations and adjust their behavior (something that requires a high degree of self-awareness and a learning mind-set). Leaders with these attributes are four times more prepared to lead amidst change.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fe8f990 elementor-widget elementor-widget-ld_fancy_image\" data-id=\"fe8f990\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"ld_fancy_image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"lqd-imggrp-single d-block pos-rel \">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"lqd-imggrp-img-container d-inline-flex pos-rel align-items-center justify-content-center \">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"w-100 pos-rel\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"767\" height=\"512\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D&#039;http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg&#039; viewBox%3D&#039;0 0 767 512&#039;%2F%3E\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-10681 ld-lazyload\" alt=\"\" itemprop=\"image\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/61\/2025\/07\/2-Satya_shaking_hands-web.jpeg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/61\/2025\/07\/2-Satya_shaking_hands-web.jpeg 767w, https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/61\/2025\/07\/2-Satya_shaking_hands-web-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/61\/2025\/07\/2-Satya_shaking_hands-web-720x480.jpeg 720w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 767px) 100vw, 767px\" data-aspect=\"1.498046875\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fdc4a64 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"fdc4a64\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Satya Nadella:<\/b>\u00a0One of the key things, I feel, is that just like individuals, companies have an identity. I talk about it even as a soul. It\u2019s that collective purpose that a company represents. In Microsoft, we talk about our mission as being empowering every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Every one of those words, for me, telegraphs that soul.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-41c2def elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"41c2def\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>We think about people and the institutions people build that are going to outlast them as a first-class software construct. We think about this globally\u2014in fact, I\u2019m a product of that, if you will. We think not about the technology we create but about the technology others create using what we create\u2014whether it\u2019s a student writing a term paper, a small business becoming more productive, or a developer writing the next world-changing application.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c75cc86 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c75cc86\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>We think about creating tools for other technologists. That\u2019s why you join Microsoft. In fact, college kids might say, \u201cHey, I have a couple of different offers; why should I join Microsoft?\u201d I say, \u201cLook, simple. If you want to be cool, go join somebody else. If you want to make others cool, come join Microsoft.\u201d That\u2019s the test. What\u2019s your self-image? What is it that you want to do?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0b1be69 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0b1be69\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>And I\u2019ll go one step further. Business models should be constructed so that they reinforce your core identity. Somebody once said that you can only trust people who think, say, and do the same thing. By the same token, I think you can only trust companies that are thinking, saying, and doing the same thing. That\u2019s the consistency that you need.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-2d2509b elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"2d2509b\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-5e0011e\" data-id=\"5e0011e\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-242d48a elementor-widget elementor-widget-hub_fancy_heading\" data-id=\"242d48a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"hub_fancy_heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div id=\"ld-fancy-heading-6a3fa66b75e2c\" class=\"ld-fancy-heading pos-rel\">\n\t\t\t<h4 class=\"ld-fh-element d-inline-block pos-rel  elementor-heading-title lqd-highlight-classic lqd-highlight-grow-left h4\"  > Turning artificial intelligence into value<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2553e2b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2553e2b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Simon London:<\/b>\u00a0Can we pivot and talk a little about AI? What advice do you give to executives that you talk to about how to leverage AI in their businesses?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7731415 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7731415\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Satya Nadella:<\/b>\u00a0I believe AI is one of the more defining technologies of our time. One of the things I am most excited about is AI technology helping with inclusivity. For example, in the latest release of Windows, we have something called Eye Gaze, which allows anybody who is suffering from ALS [amyotrophic lateral sclerosis] to be able to type just with their gaze. We have learning tools inside of Word and OneNote that allow anyone with dyslexia to improve their reading. It\u2019s powerful stuff, and it\u2019s a very practical way for executives to deploy some of these tools so that more people in their workforces can fully participate, which is important.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-45d2a32 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"45d2a32\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>But there is no question that automation and the efficiencies of automation are tremendously important. For example, if you go to support.microsoft.com, it\u2019s a bot. It uses some of the latest techniques of reinforcement learning to answer questions that customers may have. And of course, if it runs out of gas, it turns over to the customer-service representative, who is also using the bot to help answer the question.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9156fac elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9156fac\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>So, we have the full gamut of technology that is getting deployed. We now really have human-level speech recognition. In January, there was a contest at Stanford University for machine reading and comprehension. Microsoft was number one. This means a machine can read a piece of text and start answering questions, like a reading-comprehension test, without necessarily being fed the answers that are indexed in the text.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b5d945d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b5d945d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The advances are enormous, and they will lead to productivity gains broadly. Therefore, every CEO\u2014every executive\u2014should be thinking about how to get more analytical power or predictive power inside his or her business process or organization. That\u2019s ultimately what\u2019s needed to translate AI capability into productivity.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0ab263a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0ab263a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Simon London:<\/b>\u00a0What types of IT configuration and IT capabilities do companies need to do this?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8e0c895 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8e0c895\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Satya Nadella:<\/b>\u00a0I would say there are two big considerations. One of the fundamental things is that there\u2019s no way to create AI if you don\u2019t have data. If the data inside your organization is siloed, it\u2019s going to be a challenge to create AI. This goes back to your point around company configuration.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f783d32 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"f783d32\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Take customer connection as an example. In order to be much better at omnichannel customer connection\u2014and it doesn\u2019t matter whether you\u2019re a retailer, a CPG [consumer-packaged-goods] company, or a bank\u2014everything from the log data from your website, to your mobile analytics, to your CRM [customer-relationship-management] system, to all the other data streams, it all has to come together in order to create the next best touchpoint action with the customer. This is both an AI problem and a data problem. One of the things that we like to stress is: how can we help our customers first get their data estate in many cases into the cloud? Then they can reason on top of it and create these transformative outcomes, whether it is connecting with customers, or operational efficiencies, or even changing the nature of their products. This is a super important thing.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ee469a5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ee469a5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>I would also add that trust is going to be of paramount importance. Not just the security side of trust but also the trust of the business model. You need to pick partners who are going to help you with your capability building, whose interests are aligned with your interests in the long term.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-315ae58 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"315ae58\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Simon London:<\/b>\u00a0If you\u2019re a senior executive at a big industrial company, for example, there are a lot of different\u00a0potential use cases for AI. Do you have any generalizable advice about how to look across those use cases and what to go for first?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6280370 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6280370\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Satya Nadella:<\/b>\u00a0When I pattern match and look at some of the best and easy-to-get-started use cases, it would be anything related to customer experience. This is a good use case. Let\u2019s say there\u2019s omnichannel customer data. The ability to do the next best action, whether it be a sales force, or inside sales, or your website personalization, can come in a variety of different ways.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-490c8e3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"490c8e3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Connecting with your customers more deeply\u2014using your data and your ability to reason over data\u2014using the latest AI techniques is one use case. The second use case is supply-chain or operational efficiencies. The IoT [the Internet of Things] is a fascinating thing. If you think about it, most of these projects are where you have a good or a service, you\u2019re collecting operational data from it, you\u2019re doing preventive maintenance, and then you\u2019re going to connect it to field service, because once you can predict something, you want to connect it to somebody coming and fixing it before it\u2019s broken. That\u2019s a thing that can drive both top-line and bottom-line efficiencies. That\u2019s a great use case, and we see a lot of it, especially in industrial companies. We also see a lot of deployment of technology to empower people inside the organization. I\u2019m fascinated to see how HoloLens is being used for doing oil-field inspections or training. So, AI can be deployed not just against traditional knowledge work but also in what I will call frontline work.<\/p><p>Sometimes organizations have this \u201ccobbler\u2019s children\u201d problem. They talk about all these great things they\u2019ll do for customers, for [business] partners. Except you also need to do fantastic things for your employees so that they can do all these great things for customers and partners.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6c8cd0d elementor-widget elementor-widget-hub_fancy_heading\" data-id=\"6c8cd0d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"hub_fancy_heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div id=\"ld-fancy-heading-6a3fa66b7da85\" class=\"ld-fancy-heading pos-rel\">\n\t\t\t<h4 class=\"ld-fh-element d-inline-block pos-rel  elementor-heading-title lqd-highlight-classic lqd-highlight-grow-left h4\"  > Resolving the innovator\u2019s dilemma<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-738ed47 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"738ed47\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Simon London:<\/b>\u00a0Something I think you\u2019ve done fantastically well is to bring Microsoft along in its embrace of cloud. In many ways, this was a classic innovator\u2019s dilemma situation\u2014a Clayton Christensen textbook case of a new technology coming along with, let\u2019s be honest, probably a lower margin structure than older technology around servers. Do you have any advice for other executives in this situation? So many companies are facing this now as they are attacked by new digital players with new business models, probably at lower margins.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d93e658 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d93e658\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Satya Nadella:<\/b>\u00a0The only generalizable piece of advice is to reconceptualize your business to be non\u2013zero sum. These shifts are tough if they are zero sum\u2014in other words, if all I\u2019m doing is jumping into this new paradigm to essentially regain the business I already have. Especially if [the new paradigm] comes with a lower net margin, then it\u2019s sort of an impossible task. But just imagine a railroad company in the 1930s. If it had conceptualized itself as, \u201cwe\u2019re in the transportation business\u201d versus \u201cwe\u2019re in the railroad business,\u201d then it probably would have seen the ability to line extend or jump into new businesses.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4830a1c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4830a1c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>That\u2019s, I think, what companies have to do. They have to understand more broadly what category they are in, as opposed to defining themselves very narrowly by the technology they\u2019re using today. That\u2019s why I like to talk about a perpetual or a perennial category we are in: the modern workplace. My bet is that the workplace will always remain, and you will always need to be modern. We\u2019re not trying to talk about one tool or one service. Our job is to build new technology for the modern workplace. That\u2019s a better way to think about the future.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6c38209 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6c38209\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Simon London:<\/b>\u00a0That reminds me of the John Chambers phrase about having no \u201ctechnology religion\u201d and also maybe adding no \u201cbusiness-model religion.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4c13803 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4c13803\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Satya Nadella:<\/b>\u00a0That\u2019s right. No technology religion, no business model religion, and the ability to frame things with a broader lens versus a very narrow product definition or category definition based on what has happened in the past.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1e08584 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1e08584\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"post-452 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-letsthink\"><div class=\"post-content\"><p><b>Simon London:<\/b>\u00a0Well, Satya Nadella, thanks so much for talking with us.<\/p><\/div><\/article><article class=\"post-383 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-uncategorized\"><\/article>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-06e155c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"06e155c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"post-452 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-letsthink\"><div class=\"post-content\"><p><b>Satya Nadella:<\/b>\u00a0It\u2019s my pleasure. Thank you so much.<\/p><\/div><\/article><article class=\"post-383 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-uncategorized\"><\/article>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2014, Satya Nadella was appointed CEO of Microsoft,making him only the third leader in the software company\u2019s 40-year history, following Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. Since taking the top job, Nadella has doubled down on cloud computing,\u00a0artificial intelligence\u00a0(AI), and social networking while also pushing Microsoft to become more innovative, collaborative, and customer focused. In [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3355,"featured_media":10680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/61\/2025\/07\/1-Satya_smiling-web.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3355"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/songhaigroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}