Will Satya’s manifesto make Microsoft a tech leader again?

The CEO correctly lays out some of the ways the world is changing, but can the software maker really change? 

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently emailed Microsoft employees a speech that I’ll refer to as his “Satya Manifesto.” In it, he points out that the software maker must make fundamental strategic and cultural changes to deliver on his vision of being “the productivity and platform company for the mobile-first and cloud-first world.” He further states: “We will reinvent productivity to empower every person and every organization on the planet to do more and achieve more.”

I was impressed with his willingness to shift Microsoft’s focus to the mainstream of where the world is moving. Yet, I couldn’t help compare his memo to a 1999 speech by Carly Fiorina after assuming the CEO role at Hewlett Packard. In her speech she said, “…we are a single global ecosystem – wired, connected, overlapping …”

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