2023-10-24 15:09:00
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, gave an interview to the newspaper Axel Springer, from Germany, in which he gives a brief retrospective of his management at one of the main technology companies in the world. Among various topics that include games and artificial intelligence, the executive commented on a much talked regarding topic: Windows Phone.
Officially discontinued in 2019, the company’s cell phone operating system gave its “last breath” with Windows 10 Mobile, which became big tech’s last bet for a market dominated by Android and iOS. Nadella admits that abandoning the project was one of the most difficult decisions he made as leader of Microsoft.
During a moment of introspection in the conversation, Mathias Dpfner, the newspaper’s interviewer, asked the executive director to cite one of his decisions he considered a “strategic error”, and the direct answer is the exit from the cell phone market.
The decision that I think a lot of people talk regarding — and one of the hardest decisions I made when I became CEO — was our exit from what I’ll call ‘mobile phone’ as defined at the time. I think there might have been ways to make this work, perhaps by reinventing the category of integration between personal computers, tablets and cell phones.
Android
24 Out
Curiosity
21 Out
The executive believes that, for any technology company, one of the biggest threats is not following trends. In retrospect, Nadella claims to have already witnessed four major revolutions in the market: the rise of personal computers, the internet, mobile devices and the cloud. Now, the topic of the moment is AI.
Artificial intelligence in focus
Speaking of current areas of great potential for the company, Nadella obviously mentions artificial intelligence. For him, just as the cloud transformed the software market, AI might be one of the next big revolutions in the technology industry — whether in web searches or Microsoft’s productivity applications with Copilot.
The leader also comments on the risks of this technology. “We have real-world concerns today,” says Nadella. “In the United States and Europe, we’re talking regarding really practical issues like bias, misinformation, and economics — these are all things we’re going to have to tackle for AI to be truly helpful, not harmful.”
Buy from Activision Blizzard
Another subject discussed during the interview refers to Microsoft’s gaming department, especially referring to the purchase of Activision Blizzard, which went through several legal obstacles placed by market regulatory bodies concerned regarding a possible threat to market competition.
Satya Nadella indicates that games are part of Microsoft’s identity, and it would only continue to make sense if the company continued to explore the segment. “The way games are made and delivered is changing radically, so we’re eager to double down, both as game producers and publishers,” he said.
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