In Satya Nadella, Microsoft will not only get a 46-year old veteran with experience in running the company’s staple cloud and enterprise business-but also a man who remembers and has taken away lessons from his Indians roots. Born in Hyderabad, India, his choice of sports was cricket, which he played competitively as a member of his school team. “I think playing cricket taught me more about working in teams and leadership that has stayed with me throughout my career,” Satya Nadella, in a companywide memo to Microsoft’s employees. After graduating from Hyderabad Public School, Nadella wanted to build things and take up a course in computer science. As company lore has it, the computer science course wasn’t available at Manipal University, and Nadella was forced to get a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering-which proved to be a great way for him to discover what would later become a “passion”. Satya Nadella said “I’m a learner”. According to a company profile, Microsoft’s new CEO finds relaxation by reading poetry, in all forms and by poets who are both Indian and American. “It’s like code,” the profile quotes him as saying. In his first E-mail as CEO to Nadella has indicated that he’s more than up for the challenge. “Many companies aspire to change the world. But very few have all the elements required: talent, resources and perseverance. Microsoft has proven that it has all three in abundance. And, as the new CEO, I can’t ask for a better foundation. Let’s build on this together.”
