Introduction
Nadella: The changing face of Microsoft is a book about the third and the current CEO of Microsoft, Mr. Satya Nadella by Jagmohan S. Bhanver.
The book presents the visions of Mr. Nadella as how he sees his company going forward.
About Jagmohan S. Bhanver
The book is written by Jagmohan S. Bhanver who is a top leadership coach and has also won the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Award and the Global Achievers Award along with other felicitations in education and public service.
Early life and Education of Satya Nadella
Satya Nadella was born in Hyderabad. His father, B. N Yugandhar was an IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer, and his mother Prabhavati was a Sanskrit lecturer.
Nadella went to the Hyderabad Public School (HPS) before completing his Bachelor’s degree in electronics and communication from the Manipal Institute of Technology, Mangalore.
Like every other Indian, he too loved the game of cricket. Along with watching and playing the sport, he learned a lot about working in teams and leadership qualities which, according to him “stayed with me throughout my career.”
Nadella knew that computer science was what he wanted to pursue. So, he went to the United States where he earned an MS in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (UWM).
After completing his studies at UWM in 1990, he began working for Sun Microsystems in Chicago.
In 1992, he joined Microsoft but didn’t limit himself to that. While his weekdays were spent at Microsoft’s offices, every Friday night he boarded a flight from Redmond to Chicago to spend his weekends at Booth School of Business from where he completed his Executive MBA program in 1997.
In the words of the author “taking classes every weekend over more than two years requires a certain level of drive and persistence. Only a few would succeed at seeing it through, and Nadella was one of few”.
Content of the book
The book also takes us through the journey of Microsoft. It was this company which made computers a household product. Previously, owning a computer was not that common. It was only used by computer experts. Also, the price was not affordable for a middle-class family.
Microsoft’s cheap windows desktops made computers popular not just in the US but around the world.
Microsoft, as a company has grown a lot in the last two decades. Of all the tech giants dominating the market today, Microsoft is probably the most experienced of the lot.
The book takes through the times of Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, the two previous CEOs of Microsoft. What the company achieved during their leadership and what they couldn’t.
Microsoft has the credit for developing many products before anyone could think about it. But their poor management has let others come up with similar products which finally captured the market.
Also, Microsoft’s failure to predict the capability of smartphone technology led others to capture the business of smartphones.
But, Satya’s clear vision for the company has not only took the company forward but has also helped the world in building a better tomorrow.
Whom Should Read
Technological development has reached great heights in the past one decade. The increasing number of smartphones in the entire world has provided immense possibilities to these tech giants like Microsoft.
Keeping business aside, Microsoft has given a lot to the world. Excel replaced many fat, time-taking registers from offices. In fact, the MS Office suite completely turned around how work was managed in an office. Reading about what the CEO thinks will take you a little closer to the next big thing in technology.
Cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and the storage war are making these companies think on their feet. Because companies like Microsoft are known to be ahead of their times, they have a lot to look forward to.
so, students pursuing computer science must read these types of books in order to prepare themselves for the next. The syllabus of a university may not get updated that frequently as the technology changes.
As the competition increases in the market, Nadella’s vision becomes more important.
