Forbes India – Technology is everyone’s business: Satya Nadella

Image: Lucas Jackson/Reuters

All digital transformation begins and ends with the empowerment of every citizen and organization in a country, and India is no different, according to Satya Nadella, 49, Indian-born CEO of Microsoft, one of the greatest in the world. technology companies.

“While we can celebrate technology, without this (accountability) we wouldn’t have achieved anything,” said Nadella, who took over the reins of Microsoft from his predecessor Steve Ballmer in February 2014. The Microsoft chief was in Mumbai Wednesday to attend ‘Future Decoded’ – the company’s flagship annual technology and business conference in India.

Nadella, who was executive vice president of Microsoft’s cloud and enterprise businesses before becoming the company’s CEO, is betting big on the adoption of new-era digital services in India, including cloud computing, intelligence artificial intelligence, big data and analytics, the use of robots and machine learning. These technology-based productivity, communication and coordination tools are now available in India in a “democratic” way, Nadella said. “These are now available to smaller businesses, not just large businesses, at a fraction of the cost,” he added.

A civil servant’s son, from Hyderabad, said Microsoft made significant investments in India 17 months ago to build a global, reliable and hybrid cloud computing infrastructure that enabled entrepreneurship and empowered small and large companies to expand their business. through profitable innovation.

According to Nadella, the proliferation of IndiaStack was the most innovative thing to happen in the country and also influenced the shaping of Microsoft’s future innovation agenda for India. IndiaStack is a set of application program interfaces that enables governments, enterprises, startups and developers to use digital infrastructure, powered by Aadhaar, to facilitate the delivery of services without presence, paperless and cashless .

The Redmond, US-based technology company, founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975, seems to have realized that since the opportunities and challenges of India’s digitally evolving economy are unique, they also deserve solutions. unique. Additionally, Microsoft, which was once best known for its Windows operating system and Outlook email service, is trying to evolve as a full-service digital provider empowering businesses and individuals. A combination of these two factors led Microsoft, under Nadella’s leadership, to design a number of bespoke digital solutions for India.

Among these new initiatives is a new product called Kaizala, aimed at alleviating India’s governance problems through technology. “There are 300 million government employees in India who need information tools. They are currently using consumer internet services to do their jobs and in doing so are giving away data assets that belong to the government,” Nadella said. Kaizala positions itself as a mobile app with a messaging interface that can help governments manage logistics and coordinate the facilitation of essential services like healthcare and security for its citizens. The service, which is currently in preview mode, has been extensively tested in Andhra Pradesh, as well as during the ongoing elections in Uttar Pradesh, in the operation of Niti Aayog and in several financial institutions and FMCG companies, said Nadella.

The second strategy is to launch lighter versions of its flagship apps to give users in pockets with unstable connectivity access to its services. Therefore, Nadella also announced the launch of Skype Lite and highlighted existing services like LinkedIn Lite. Skype Lite is a lite version of Microsoft’s messaging service that allows users to make voice and video calls as well. while LinkedIn Lite is the similar version of the business and employment-focused social networking service that Microsoft acquired in December 2016. The new Skype application launched by Microsoft will also provide access to Aadhaar identification which will allow users to verify the identity of the person. they communicate with, a feature that should come in handy during activities such as job interviews. New features have also been added to LinkedIn, such as Placement – a tool to help college graduates land jobs based on merit rather than the reputation of their alma mater, and Starter – which aims to help fledgling businesses grow their brands and hire and retain employees.

Microsoft is also optimistic about the prospects of Project Sangam, an India-specific service that will allow potential job seekers to get job training through the online education platform. The cloud-based service has been integrated with LinkedIn to help Sangam Project users find and secure relevant jobs.

While these new products and services aim to increase the user base of Microsoft’s products and services in the country, the company also continues to focus on its large enterprise customers. On February 16, Microsoft signed an agreement with Tata Motors to help the automaker improve in-vehicle connectivity and efficiency through its artificial intelligence, machine learning and Internet of Things capabilities.

“A car can now collect and process more data and artificial intelligence than any computer,” Nadella said, adding that for automakers, which are considered manufacturing companies, future margin growth benefit will likely come from the services it provides to its customers. and not just the products it sells.