Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Starts India Visit: Key Things To Expect

The year 2023 begins with a trip to India for Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The India-born big tech CEO Nadella is starting his four-day official visit to India from Mumbai on Tuesday.

During his visit, Nadella is likely to meet key customers, startups, developers, not-for-profit organisations and students.

While tech giant Microsoft is hosting its industry summit in Mumbai on Tuesday, Nadella has started his India visit with the summit. At Microsoft Future Ready Leadership Summit, Nadella will have discussions on India’s innovation ecosystem with industry leaders.

Besides, Nadella will participate in industry summits across New Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. More importantly, Microsoft CEO is likely to meet government officials, including Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, and Union Minister of IT, Communications and Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, in Delhi on Wednesday, an ET report said.

He will conclude his India visit from Hyderabad, where he may address Microsoft India employees from the Microsoft office in the city.

Earlier in 2020, Nadella interacted with eminent industry leaders, enterprises, startups, developers and young innovators during his three-day visit to India. He also highlighted the need for technology to be built on principles of inclusion, sustainability and trust, to ensure everyone benefits from this growth.

His visit comes just two weeks after Google CEO Sundar Pichai visited India. During this visit, Pichai met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the growing innovation and technological sphere in India. He also revealed Google’s upcoming plans to focus on AI-based solutions. He also met President Droupadi Murmu and telecom and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. 

Last year, Microsoft CEO was conferred the Padma Bhushan — India’s third-highest civilian award given for distinguished service of a high order. Hence, this will be his first visit to India after he received the award.

Nadella, who has worked at Microsoft for 30 years, was the first Indian-born executive to be appointed as CEO of a big tech company. Born in Hyderabad of present-day Telangana, Nadella did his bachelor’s in electrical engineering from the Manipal Institute of Technology in Karnataka.

It is to be noted that Microsoft has reportedly announced a hike in prices of commercial software and services in India by up to 11%. Starting February 1, 2023, Indian rupee prices for commercial on-premises software will increase by 4.5%, online services will increase by 9%, and Windows GGWA will increase by 11% to realign close to prevailing USD pricing levels in the Asian region.

Other than its regular operations, Microsoft has been active in India in terms of various investments and programmes. Last year, Nadella himself joined as an investor and advisor in the Bengaluru-based wealth management startup Groww. 

For example, Microsoft and LinkedIn launched the “Skills for Jobs program” in India, providing free access to 350 courses and six new Career Essentials Certificates for six of the most in-demand jobs in the digital economy. 

Last year, Microsoft also launched its Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub in India to empower startups’ vision and fuel innovation to drive economic and societal progress for India and beyond. The platform offers over $300,000 worth of benefits and credits, giving startups free access to the technology, tools, and resources they need to build and run their business.